Breaking All the Rules - John Mayer style

I have posted a lot about John Mayer recently. His music doesn't always seem to be the most authentic. At times, it seems watered-down and targeted towards adolescence (and adolescents). I'm not sure if that is a by-product of signing a big record contract or if that is genuinely the type of music Mr. Mayer likes to make. No point in speculating, because I won't know until I hang out with him and ask him. But here's the thing I really like about John Mayer - he seems like someone who could actually hang. He has a witty, dry sense of humor and he's intelligent, at least those are some of the personality traits which I attribute to him after reading his blog and watching various clips on VH1, funnyordie.com, among other media outlets.

Anyway, let's get to the point of this blog. He's going on tour this summer and is doing some really cool things. One, he's letting the audience vote on what songs he will play in his encore. That's not completely original, considering today's pop culture is driven by audience participation. At the same time, I don't know if I've heard of another musician doing that. Yet, the coolest (swiftest, trillest, insert word here) thing to me about his summer tour is that he is giving anyone and everyone rights to record (both audio and video) his shows. People can post the live material to his site and share it with the world. Other than jam bands, I don't know of too many pop artists who are encouraging the audience to bootleg their shows. Maybe I'll be able to catch a live version of his "Kid A" cover (see post from May 28). Part of his set will be dedicated to covers by the way. Watch his explanation of the summer tour below.

So don't hate on John Mayer. He's probably the coolest guy pretensious music people love to hate. I'm not afraid to break the rules and admit I like John Mayer. Does that mean I don't have good taste in music?

- Joel