Jason Mraz

By: Lori Smerilson Carson | Photo: Jen Rosenstein

No stranger to writing hit songs that achieve platinum and even diamond status, Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Jason Mraz has been releasing worldwide music since his 2002 debut album WAITING FOR MY ROCKET TO COME. He continued an uphill path and his third album released in 2008 WE SING, WE DANCE, WE STEAL THINGS climbed to four-time platinum RIAA status with single “I’m Yours” achieving Diamond certification. He has released several more successful albums totaling over seven million which spawned singles that hit the Billboard charts. He has two Grammy awards, a Songwriter’s Hall of Fame award, and other accolades. Now, he is releasing a gospel album in honor of his grandmother entitled GRANDMA’S GOSPEL FAVORITES out May 8^th. Simultaneously, he will be touring Florida, starting with Glazer Hall in Palm Beach on May 12^th, then the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers on May 13^th, Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale on May 15^th, Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on May 16^th and Steinmetz Hall at Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts in Orlando on May 17^th.

Catching up the Mraz just prior to his tour, he revealed some details about his new show, his music, some fond memories, and what fans can look forward to.

SFL Music Magazine: What can fans look forward to with the new show at Glazer Hall and throughout Florida?

Jason Mraz: This is a solo acoustic tour, so I’m able to tap into pretty much any song from my catalogue. My goal is to weave a somewhat improvisational set together through the narrative that takes us from our heads into our hearts that hopefully enriches our lives in the moment, so that when we leave the theater we feel better than when we came in and we might even go and pursue that ridiculous dream that we keep holding onto or we pick up the phone and call a loved one that we’ve been meaning to connect with, but the goal is to find gratitude for life and enjoy being while we’re here. So, that’s what I try to do through weaving songs together, essentially. Songs and stories and hopefully build a conversation with the audience through the process.

SFL Music Magazine: The new album GRANDMA’S GOSPEL FAVORITES (out May 8^th) was written in honor of Nanny Razz, correct?

Mraz: That’s right.

SFL Music Magazine: There are cover songs like Ray Stevens song “Turn Your Radio On” and Johnny Cash’s “Daddy Sang Bass”. You also have originals like “Peach Pie”. Would you please elaborate on the story about the squirrels?

Mraz: Well, it’s a true story. I have a little ranch outside of San Diego. I grow fruit trees mostly, and I had a little peach tree. I still have a little peach tree. Actually, it’s bumping right now. The squirrels are probably my greatest nemesis. They are working overtime to haul my fruit away. So, GRANDMA’S GOSPEL is an album I recorded for my grandmother specifically. She always wanted me to make a gospel album and so I did. And “Peach Pie” aligns with that because while the squirrels are my enemy, I was forced to make a decision on how to approach my enemy and in the end, I decided to feed them peaches and make peace and make friends with them, and I think that’s in alignment with the stories we learn from gospel music.

SFL Music Magazine: You also have a more serious song you wrote for your aunt?

Mraz: That’s right. “When We Die (You Are Loved)”. Well, shortly after I made the album for my grandmother, we lost my aunt who was my grandmother’s daughter. I typically write about whatever is going on in my life. So, obviously the peaches and when someone passes away that’s clearly the thing that’s the most heavy on my heart. I’ll lean on an instrument, piano, guitar or the wailing of singing which is a form of crying. It’s controlled exhale, where I can sing and share my thoughts and ask why does this happen? And what is life about? What is the meaning of life, and that’s kind of a continuous theme in my music. Why are we here? How can we make the most of it? What are some things I can do and think that are going to give me comfort until I get those answers? That song, “When We Die” is one of those, one of the many of those types of songs.

SFL Music Magazine: So basically, are you inspired by your life circumstances or situations?

Mraz: Absolutely! I mean, there’s always something to write about. I tell this to other creators. Even if you feel stuck like you have writer’s block, you can always write about being stuck. You can always write about what it feels like to have nothing to say and as soon as you lean into that nothing, you’ve started, and now you’re saying something. You can describe your experience, and that’s always been very helpful to me, and the more I do it, I’m also able to describe experiences of joy and lightheartedness and humor. I think that’s also very affective in our healing, and in our just shared experience in life.

SFL Music Magazine: You’ve won two Grammy Awards as well as other accolades. You’ve sold over seven million albums. What would you recommend to a new musician, an artist?

Mraz: I would say create for yourself. That is your first love is the experience you have creating something out of nothing. Practicing the magic of art which is watching a poem unfold on the page or a song grow out of a piano and be enamored with that, and then share it to the best of your ability. Share it, but keep creating, keep creating, keep creating. Create a whole world of music because you never know where it’s going to land or how it’s going to land. You could share it in a coffee shop. You can share it online and really have no attachment to where it goes and who accepts it and who doesn’t accept it. The more people listen; you may get informed on how you can better share or communicate what your audience may be looking for. It’s going to be different for every artist and medium, but I think the most important is just to be in love with the practice of creating, and create lots of it because that’s really the reward is you having the relationship with the divine through the creative art. The rest of it, the business, there’s many ways. There’re handbooks on how to share your art with an audience whether it’s a local gallery, a local coffee shop, online platforms. There’s lots of ways to do it, but the only way you can do it is if you have a book of art to share.

SFL Music Magazine: Would you say Nanny Razz inspired you to become a musician?

Mraz: I think she played a role in it definitely because if her friends came over, she would definitely ask me to sing a little tune, perform a little tune, do my little thing, whatever that thing was. When I was very, very young I would just sing the commercials I heard on T.V. or the songs I would hear on HEE HAW and The Lawrence Welk Show and the musical program like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ (Neighborhood). I would perform those from memory. She always got a kick out of it. She would drag me to church on Sundays, and we would sing at church, and when I was old enough, I’d sing on the alter and sing the hymns or some of the pop music that had been re-written for church. So, yes, my grandmother was encouraging.  She was very encouraging of my path.

SFL Music Magazine: Is there anything new coming out for fans to know?

Mraz: Wow! What else is coming out?

SFL Music Magazine: You’re always busy, right?

Mraz: I can’t keep up! Well, we’re touring, that’s very new. GRANDMA’S GOSPEL is coming out and that’s very new, but it also is very specific. It’s not for everyone. It’s going to land with those who may remember those songs from the old days. Then I’m going to continue recording this summer and touring in Asia this fall. So, staying busy. My hope this year is that I start recording a holiday album this summer, but I have no schedule for when that would come out because I’ve got to make it first.

SFL Music Magazine: Something to look forward to.

Mraz: Yeah!

SFL Music Magazine: Is there anything else you would like to add about your new show, your acoustic show?

Mraz: Well, the acoustic show is, it’s kind of an improvisational experience. I walk out onstage usually without a set list, and I serve the moment and the sound waves in real time hopefully through a conversation with the audience. Even if the audience said nothing, I can usually gage by laughter, singing, applause, participation to know how it’s going and how I can best serve. We also use online requests, and if I walk around town and meet fans ahead of time, I get requests from fans so that I know what I can play that will best serve the moment. But I do really leave it to the moment, to the current events, to the environment, to the weather, to the size and space of the room. There’s lots of things that inform how a show is going to happen and that’s what makes each show unique from the next one, and I really love that. I have a default mode I can fall back on that they know. Hit songs and stories that can hopefully guide you from your head into your heart, enrich your life and make you feel good about your day. That I will always lean on, but I do hope that there is a surprising and delightful new expression that evolves from all of us being together.