John Mayer sings songs for the young people

Many popular bands get their starts traveling around the country winning fans one university student at a time.

Young and quiet crooner John Mayer is the newest college tour success story.

With a sound reminiscent of Dave Matthews, Sting, David Gray and Bob Dylan, Mayer’s first big studio album, Room for Squares, has the singer, songwriter and guitar master sitting comfortably at No. 61 on the “Billboard Top 100” charts.

Room for Squares was quietly released by Aware/Columbia Records last September with “Your Body Is A Wonderland” – one of the album’s two singles – released to radio in March. The 13-song CD is a lyrical journal of Mayer’s views on love, passion, aspiration and identity.

“They love to tell you ‘Stay inside the lines,’ but something’s better on the other side,” Mayer sings on track one.

The 24-year-old songwriter composes what he knows. Songs such as “No Such Thing” about being young and the choices we face today. The songs raise the listener’s spirits through wry humor and common emotion.

“When you hear a great song, you trace it back to who the singer is,” Mayer said. “When you can offer people that piece of you, that’s what keeps them listening.”

Mayer sings about the hazards of dating and how his “stupid mouth has gotten [him] in trouble.”

His bluesy, folk-style verses speak of the simple serenity that comes from sharing a load of laundry with someone you love – watching your clothes mingle together as they spin around – and how it describes a passion that is normally seen only in “glossy magazines.”

His lyrics are simple and uncomplicated, set to pop-rock and jazzy melodies.

His honest and appealing lyrics coincide with the experiences of his young fan base.

Who hasn’t felt that awkward lag in conversation on a first date? Who doesn’t daydream of childhood, when you pretended to be Superman, flying around in a red cape?

With a large collegiate fan base, Room for Squares is also quickly becoming a great dorm room make-out album.

Mayer’s sensitive image and dark brooding looks appeal to romantic fans. His mood-setting melodies are quickly gaining appreciation from both male and female listeners.

“As long as nobody tries to hit me up for child support, I’m more than happy to have people copulating to my music,” Mayer said in a February HITS interview. “My music is smooth. I gravitate to toward the sweetest part of the guitar or the most mellow part of a cymbal.”

Room for Squares is Mayer’s second album and plays off the title of Hank Mobley’s 1963 LP No Room For Squares. His first CD, Inside Wants Out (1999), was a small independently released album that showed off Mayer’s abilities.

Room for Squares provides Mayer’s first real band experience and offers the Atlanta native the chance to make the songs a “true fulfillment of what they were supposed to be in the first place.”

“I have been labeled an acoustic musician, and that was only because I didn’t have a band, and I refused to have a bad band,” Mayer said.

But Room for Squares showcases Mayer’s new band image. His sound is reminiscent of Dave Matthews – not surprising as they share the same producer.

Recently, Mayer has taken several breaks from the road to appear on late-night talk shows. Mayer has played “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, VH1’s “Late World With Zack” and “The Late Late Show” on CBS. Insomniacs can catch Mayer on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly on April 17th.

Room for Squares has something for everyone. Daydreamers and misfits alike can find tunes to identify with.

But from the very first track Mayer lets you know that he hasn’t given away all of his tricks with Room for Squares.

“I never lived the dreams of prom kings and drama queens,” Mayer sings. “I’d like to think the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve.”