At last night’s Grammy Awards, John Mayer teamed up with Maren Morris for a rendition of the pop singer-songwriter’s track The Bones, which saw the electric guitar maestro take up lead guitar and backup vocals duty.
Running his trusty PRS Silver Sky through a Dumble Steel String Singer, Mayer offered up some sweet single-coil cleans to prop up Morris’ commanding vocals, before launching into a searing quick-fire solo, stylized with scorching bends, pentatonic licks and a bite-y tone.
The track itself, taken from Morris’ 2019 album Girl, was nominated on the night for Best Country Song – an award that ended up being bagged by The Highwomen’s Crowded Table.
Speaking after the show, Mayer said, “The feeling of playing guitar is amazing. The feeling of playing guitar inside of a brilliant song is something I can’t quite describe. Thank you @marenmorris for the invite to play along with you at the Grammys. You’re as good as they get.”
In an Instagram post of her own, Morris replied, “Thank you @johnmayer for adding so much beauty to The Bones.”
Mayer took time out of his hectic recording schedule to appear at the Grammys, having recently appeared on Kerwin Frost Talks to reveal that “all I’m doing is working on a new album right now”.
“The result of unbroken creative momentum is going to be heard,” Mayer teased, before adding, “It’s just about making music.”
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Elsewhere at the 2021 Grammys, a handful of guitar-wielding acts received awards, including H.E.R., who bagged Song of the Year with Can’t Breathe, and Thundercat, who secured Best Progressive R&B Album with It Is What It Is.
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Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
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