On Friday, you'll be here in Charlottesville, which isn't very far from your hometown of Mechanicsville. How does playing a show so close to home compare to all your other shows?
It's tougher because my whole family will probably show up. It kind of breaks your routine for the whole day. After sound check, we as a band split up and do our own thing, and then we get back together like thirty minutes before the show. If my family is there, I usually go out to dinner with them. Since my parents are divorced, I have to decide who I'm going to see and how to split my time. As I'm getting older, I've kind of been able to be an adult with my parents and say, 'Look, I'll see you after the show.' Still I know they're there, and it screws with my brain.
You've opened for many big acts. How does it feel to finally headline your own tour?
It's a good feeling. Tour's been going really well.
As much as I try to share everything I do, it kind of sucks, and sometimes I wish we were a band name, but we're not. It's Jason Mraz. I'm the one who always has to approve every decision. My e-mail box gets way too full. Some days the romance of being a troubadour just isn't there. But actually touring is a whole heck of a lot of fun. Period.
What can fans expect at a Jason Mraz concert?
That's something I myself don't even know until the day of the show. ... We try to put on an energetic show where the music is all across the board. That way, fans who like different music will get something out of the night. There's an acoustic portion of the show. How the night goes really depends on the audience.
If you could jam with anybody, dead or alive, who would it be?
I'm really digging Neil Young and Crazy Horse this week. Whoever played on "Cortez the Killer" -- that sounds like one heck of a jam. I'd like to be there and sit down and learn something.
What's going through your head right before you go on stage?
Oh gosh, you don't wanna know. It could be anything. I've gotten so comfortable with performing that honestly it could be anything. Sometimes I get on myself for not being nervous.
What's one thing that a person wouldn't be able to guess just by looking at you?
... Well I'm a vitamin junkie. In the last year and a half I've just really enjoyed vitamins. Today I'm taking my omega and this one I can't pronounce that's supposed to help with your emotions. I like ones that I can empower my brain with.
What is the purpose behind your music? What's the meaning of your songs?
You could probably find the word 'love' in every song. Every song is born out of love. Whether it is how much I love green tea or how much I hate to love smoking cigarettes -- every song is based on that and on the relationship with something and why that love has been either a bigmistake or one of the greatest things ever...
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