You know, some people say they have this father figure or an idol, if you will, that they look up to and idolise for something that they have done or accomplished in their lives. Usually these idols are kinda old and dated, and to most, their idols are their very own fathers. My dad is one of my idols too, but the one person that I truly respect from the bottom of my heart and pay homage to is a young, but
VERY talented singer/songwriter/musician, who is (in my opinion) the MOST under-rated artiste in the USA right now. He's a lyrical genius that has a spiritual connection with the words and phrases that he uses in his songs, till the fact that nearly every sentence in his songs have more than one meaning behind them, and not to mention his very original style of delivery where he sings long sentences at a time, very rapidly I might add, making it very difficult for one to imitate. He is none other than the one, and the ONLY...
Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz (born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond. Mraz is an eclectic artist with multiple and varied stylistic influences, including pop, rock, folk, jazz, country, and hip hop/rap.
Mraz graduated from Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. After a brief stint studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, he moved to San Diego. On the Southern California club scene, Mraz joined percussionist Toca Rivera and his brother, Latin-pop guitarist Carlos Olmeda, in a regular Thursday-night gig at the now-defunct Java Joe's coffee shop—the same venue where fellow musician Jewel played during her early career. In 2001, he married Sheridan Edley; they subsequently divorced. In 2002, Mraz signed to Elektra Records, returning to Virginia to work with producer John Alagía on his major label debut release, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which would be certified platinum by the RIAA in July 2004 and reach #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. His first single, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)," was co-written by music production team The Matrix. Mraz's friend and former roommate Billy "Bushwalla" Galewood also collaborated on the album, co-writing "Curbside Prophet", the album's third single, and "I'll Do Anything".
In June and July of 2005, Mraz opened for Alanis Morissette during her Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Tour. On July 26, 2005, he released his second major-label album, Mr. A-Z, for Atlantic Records. It entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 5. In December, the album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while its producer, the prolific Steve Lillywhite, received a nomination for Producer of the Year.
Mraz began his long-running tour in support of Mr. A-Z at the San Diego Music Awards on September 12. The tour featured a variety of opening acts, including Bushwalla and Tristan Prettyman, with whom he had co-written the duet "Shy That Way" in 2002. Mraz and Prettyman dated briefly, co-writing the song "All I Want For Christmas is Us."
In November, Mraz opened for the Rolling Stones on five dates during their 2005–2006 world tour. Also in 2005, Mraz was one of many singers featured in the fall advertisement campaign for The Gap entitled "Favorites." The music-themed campaign also featured other singers including Michelle Branch, Joss Stone, Keith Urban, Alanis Morissette, Brandon Boyd, and Michelle Williams. In December 2005, Mraz released the first part of his ongoing podcast.
In March, Mraz also performed for the first time at a sold-out (one month before the actual performance date) performance in Singapore with Toca as part of the annual Mosaic Music Festival.
In October 2005 Mraz did an interview with High Times Magazine in which he claims that "Pot laws don’t exist in our world" referring to himself and his band. He also claims that producer Steve Lillywhite would tell him and his bandmates to take LSD over the weekend to gain perspective and creativity.
In May 2006, Mraz toured mostly small venues and music festivals in the U.S., along with a few shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The tour included a May 6 acoustic show with P.O.D., Better Than Ezra, Live, and The Presidents. Mraz was featured as a headlining guest of St. Louis's annual Fair St. Louis and performed a free concert at the base of the Arch on July 1, 2006.
In December 2006, "Selections For Friends," the live, online-only album recorded during the Songs For Friends Tour, was released. "Selections For Friends" features Jason's favorite songs from the Schubas Tavern and Villa Montalvo shows he played in July 2006. Schubas Tavern featured a stripped down solo performance, while Villa Montalvo was an unplugged full band show.
Owh, and little known fact, especially for "Ugly Betty" fans, Jason Mraz began 2007 by debuting his new single "The Beauty in Ugly," an earlier track penned by Mraz entitled "Plain Jane" that he rewrote for the ABC TV show Ugly Betty. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign, which sought to promote self-esteem in women. He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)." Carlos Olmeda helped him with the Spanish lyrics.
If you wanna check him out, feel free to do so on you tube and etc. If you guys are interested in his songs and want them, you can just give me a buzz and I'll provide them to you as most of his greatest hits are hard to find and cannot be downloaded from Ares/Limewire, etc.
My favourite top 5 Jason Mraz hits are:
5) The Remedy
4) Plane
3) Curbside prophet
2) I'm yours
1) 0% Interest
PS: You guys simply HAVE to at least give these 5 songs a listen, especially 0% Interest. As I said, if you want, I will provide you the songs. Then you'll know why I admire him so much. Jason is also the SOLE inspirer to my music and is THE reason I started writing my own songs.
=)
On a lighter note, I'm missing my girlfriend. I know, its cheesy, but I do ok?
You all jealous ke? =P
Lol..
But yea, she is in form 5 now and has to study. I understand all that, but sometimes, I just cant help but miss her. =/
But hey, it's only for a year, so yea, I'll wait. =)
Baby. if you're reading this, you know I want you to get enough sleep everyday and pay attention in school.
I love you boo.. =)
OWWHHH....
Did you know, SWITCHFOOT is coming to KL on the 2nd of February. They'll be performing at the KL Convention Centre, starting 6:30 p.m. The ticket price is fixed at RM 120. Whoever that is interested in going, please let me know early as I MIGHT be able to get you guys DISCOUNTS. ;D
Ok, I sudah malas wanna type.
Take care, till next time.
=)
