John Mayer
Since the 1999 release of Inside Wants Out, a homemade effort which John Mayer sold at his shows and distributed himself and his major label debut Room For Squares in September 2001, Mayer has crisscrossed the U.S., building an ever-widening fanbase. He's appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and Last Call with Carson Daly. The release of the critically acclaimed debut LP Room for Squares has been certified triple-platinum. That memorable bow contained the hit singles "No Such Thing," "Why Georgia" and "Your Body Is a Wonderland," the last of which earned Mayer a 2003 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The intriguingly titled Heavier Things was produced and mixed by the highly regarded Jack Joseph Puig, whose long list of credits includes Sheryl Crow, No Doubt, the Black Crowes and Hole. Mayer and Puig had forged a strong creative relationship when the latter was mixing half a dozen tracks for Room for Squares. A rock specialist with a feel for melodies and hooks, Puig was particularly attuned to Mayer's new material, in which the songwriter/musician provides ample opportunity to break out his electric guitars. Heavier Things was tracked in New York and completed at Puig's L.A. headquarters, Ocean Way. In addition to the lead single, "Bigger Than My Body," the album contains several songs Mayer has performed live. These include "Daughters," "Come Back to Bed" and "Something's Missing." "Bigger Than My Body" was released to radio in August of 2003 with the video clip for the track arriving at music television channels soon thereafter. Heavier Things arrives hot on the heels of Mayer's tour of arenas and amphitheaters with co-headliners Counting Crows. Mayer spent two years between albums fruitfully, touring nonstop and generating massive word of mouth, which reached critical mass just as radio and the video channels were discovering the tireless young artist. Any Given Thursday, a vivid document of John Mayer the touring machine, was released in February of 2003 on Columbia Music Video/Aware. The CD version was gold, while the DVD version achieved platinum status. The growing body of work of this career artist also included the 1999 independently released EP, Inside Wants Out, which was reissued on Aware/Columbia in September of 2003.