John Mayer saluted the legacy of Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia with a special post online ahead of his latest tour with the surviving members of the jam band.
John Mayer joined forces with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann in 2015 to help them rock on as Dead & Company, and as the supergroup prepared to officially launch its new trek at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Mayer took a moment to pay tribute to the tragic frontman.
Alongside a photo of Garcia on Instagram, Mayer shared his admiration for the late singer and the impact his work has had on the 40-year-old’s life.
“We’re about to begin what I believe in my heart will be the best tour so far for @deadandcompany,” he began. “Something is definitely spinning up in the air around us. But as I sit at the end of my bed with my guitar in my hands I feel like I need to post this.”
“I’m only here as an interpreter of a master,” John continued, as he touched on the pressure he feels performing with the rock legends. “This band has developed a soul all its own but I play in constant emotional, psychological and musical deference to Jerry Garcia. I suppose I thought it would become easier each tour to stand on that stage and go reaching for that sound and those colors, but in some ways it gets harder – the deeper I go into the music, the more I realize what it deserves.
“Just know that with every show we play, I’ll never forget why it is I’m standing there. This is the great ongoing privilege of my life. See ya round campus.”
Garcia died from a heart attack in August, 1995, aged 53.
Mayer’s recruitment two years ago was met with mixed reactions from fans, but he has since won over the majority of Dead devotees, having already completed three full tours with the rock veterans, with the latest, the Dead & Company Fall Tour 2017, running until early December (17).
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