Mike Dawes has reflected on the time he missed out on meeting guitar hero John Mayer after his cover of Slow Dancing in a Burning Room went viral.
The acoustic guitar virtuoso is no stranger to putting his signature percussive fingerstyle spin on classic tracks, having covered everyone from Foo Fighters to Sleep Token. Speaking to Guitar World about his popular take on John Mayer’s Slow Dancing in a Burning Room from 2017, Dawes reveals he once came close to meeting Mayer himself – but failed to show up to the rendezvous when he slept in.
“I was invited to meet John Mayer. I've never met John Mayer – I've never met you, John, if you're watching,” he confesses, addressing the Slow Dancing songwriter directly. “I regret to say that the reason I missed that opportunity, from Paul Reed Smith himself around the launch of the Silver Sky, was that I slept in. That was the reason.”
John Mayer's signature guitar, the PRS Silver Sky, was launched in 2018, a year after Dawes dished out his viral Slow Dancing rendition. That means that, seven years later, the pair still haven't crossed paths.
“It was at NAMM,” Dawes details of the ill-fated meet. “Anyone who's ever been to the show can understand why one would want to sleep in. So I apologize. It was a public event, so it wasn't a one-to-one meeting or anything, but I do regret that.”
Dawes’ arrangement of the Mayer classic is a little harder to play than the original, but he reckons all players would benefit from wrapping their heads around the 2006 track.
“Having learned that song and dissected it in the way one does for a solo guitar cover, you really get to know a song,” he says. “The curse of solo guitar arrangements is that when you're really going through things so forensically and getting all the nuances in there, you don't want to listen to the song anymore. It ruins it for you.”
Mayer’s cut, though, proved to be an exception to the rule, and Dawes is convinced the “timeless” song is one every player can and should get under their fingers, calling it “a masterclass in songwriting.”
The percussive extraordinaire, who named Eddie Van Halen and Tommy Emmanuel as life-changing influences to his playing last year, has recently collaborated with Periphery and found himself going back to basics for his pedalboard on their recent tour together.
John Mayer, meanwhile, says he isn't rushing his next album despite having more than enough material ready. He's also been keeping himself busy working as a de facto gear influencer, having recently posted a surprise demo of JHS Pedals' new Mk.gee-coded 424 Gain Stage.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
