Jason Mraz

Darlene and I attended the Jason Mraz concert at the Sandia Casino Amphitheater on the north edge of Albuquerque last Saturday night. It was our first visit to this venue – we love outdoor concerts – this venue works well – good sound and comfortable seating and small enough that everyone is close to the stage. Mraz and his band played for well over 2 hours and we didn’t make it home until nearly midnight. That’s way past bedtime for this old man, but it was such a good time – a long afternoon nap Sunday afternoon after worship services and lunch got me back on track.

Mraz is a singer/songwriter in his late 30s, I think, and he began achieving commercial success 10-15 years ago. I first heard him on the Coffee House channel on Sirius XM in 2003 or 2004 with his song, The Remedy. It was a good song with a catchy tune and lyrics and a positive message. It was several years later that the song, I’m Yours, was released from his third album – it got lots of air time and made him a star, and I started making playlists of his music on Spotify, or whatever music service I had at the time, and followed his new releases. He has won two Grammy awards. The lyrics to his songs are poetic and complex compared to many popular songs we hear. He’s clearly a romantic with an optimism that is undaunted. I continue to be a fan – my favorite genre is singer/songwriter acoustic guitar folk music, and Jason Mraz is as close to that as it gets these days. He played with a band of 8 at the concert. Off the picture to the right are a keyboard and a percussion musicians. His songs almost always have a positive message – there was no politics or crude language at the concert – we left with smiles on our faces and uplifted hearts.

When I look into your eyes
It’s like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There’s so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you’ve come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

Well I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love, I’m still looking up

And when you’re needing your space, to do some navigating
I’ll be here patiently waiting, to see what you find

‘Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We’ve got a lot to learn
God knows we’re worth it
No, I won’t give up

I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up, still looking up.

                from “I Won’t Give Up”

                by Jason Mraz

We have tickets to a twin bill with Dwight Yoakum and also The Mavericks at Kit Carson Park in Taos on July 29. I lost track of Dwight Yoakum 15 years ago, but hope he still rocks like he used to. We saw the Mavericks in Greenville, SC a year or so ago – they put on a great live show – their studio albums don’t do them justice. So, we’re excited – a small road trip and a concert on the schedule.