- Hi, I'm John Mayer, and you're watching Billboard.
(energetic music)
The first time I remember picking up a guitar
I was at friends' houses who had these beginner guitars
with less than six strings on them.
You know, you come across a guitar with four strings on it.
And then, my grandmother bought one from the tag sale,
that again, did not have all six strings on it.
I didn't mind.
And then, when I got a guitar with all six strings,
well, I found that very exciting.
Because I had all the strings
that a guitar was supposed to have.
And the sky was the limit at that point.
And I was 13 when I did that.
(lighthearted music)
The best thing about touring is the familiarity
that gets developed and bred through
having the same crew day after day, year after year.
The setting up shop and going from room to room
and understanding how that works,
almost without any words at all,
just tacitly understanding the flow of the day,
is one of my favorite things.
You just wave high to everybody
as if it's an office building.
The least favorite part, off days.
You might think it would be
the best part of a tour is an off day,
but it's the least favorite part of the tour
because you're not doing anything that day
that would make touring worth while (chuckles).
You're just staring out of your hotel window
at a Panda Pavilion
in a mall,
and you're just waiting
for the next day you get to go play.
So, I don't love off days.
(lighthearted music)
The last time I heard a guitar player
who blew me away was on Instagram.
Her name is Melanie Faye, I had to look it up
'cause I only know her as rainbow_fever_1998_.
The thing that's special about her is she's young,
but she plays with feeling that you're supposed
to have to play a lot more years to have.
We've all seen, he's a nine year old,
and he's playing "Purple Haze".
But there's another dimension to being able
to play the strings a certain way, and she has it.
(guitar music)
Hear the ways she's like pulling notes out?
(guitar music) No.
She's doing just fine without me (laughs).
(lighthearted music)
One time I made Throat Coat tea, you know?
And I had a teabag in a cup.
String came out of the teabag and I swallowed the string.
But not all the way (chuckles).
So, the string was just hanging over the back of my throat,
wouldn't go anywhere, and I had to keep singing.
A lot of skill involved in continuing
with the show no matter what.
Very seldom would you have to say,
"Guys, you know what, I'm sorry."
I mean, you just keep going.
Stomach problems, you keep going.
You know, there have been a couple times
we've thrown a drum solo in where we didn't plan on it.
But for the most part, you just can't tell.
The other thing I would tell people
that I learned is never apologize from the stage.
Never say I'm sorry.
Because that engenders a sense of--
It makes a sorry for you.
So, like, if someone has a cold,
or someone's losing their voice,
you just never say I'm sorry.
But most people can't tell that you're losing your voice.
And as soon as you go, "You guys, I'm so sorry."
You'd be amazed, it makes other
people get ambulatory for you.
It's a very funny relationship.
It's like you just have to always take care of them.
They're not supposed to take care of you.
Although, there are people have that thing going, you know?
(energetic music)