Not Just Another Romeo and Not Just Another Garage Band
Peter Mayer at Eddie's Attic
By Jeff Pike, June 2003
Perfection, simplicity, amazing technical expertise, honesty, emotion, compassion, an indescribable amount of God given talent, but most of all, the gift to accurately convey the amazingly complex feelings of the human soul with pure, unfiltered conviction and love-through his music and words. This is what comes to mind when I think of the music, the lyrics, the performances and the man that is Peter Mayer.
In the world of popular music today Peter Mayer is an anomaly, a lone poet and artist that lives and works very comfortably and honestly within his own skin. In an industry that lives and breathes on prepackaged, homogenized, computer perfected music with no substance, and on bland, disposable product that is designed to sell millions of units to young consumers, Peter Mayer is one of the very few left who hold his ground. And he has very few to contest him. Faithful to his God, his music, his family, friends and the music that lives within him, Peter is sadly a dying breed in the music industry.
I had the pleasure, once again, of witnessing another "one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life" at Eddies Attic on June 3, 2003 when Peter Mayer and The Spare Tire Orchestra played to a handful of devoted friends and fans for over 4 hours. Like so many times before, since 1992 when I first got to know Peter Mayer, his brother Jim and fellow band mate Roger Guth, I was once again in awe of the bands amazing talent that seems to have no limits and boundaries.
Aside from being one of the best guitar players and musicians on the planet, in my opinion, Peter is a very warm, gentle man. And thankfully the Peter you see on stage is the Peter you get off stage. He has the rare ability to make you feel completely at home simply by saying hello while strumming a few opening chords on his guitar. No two shows are ever the same but you can rest assured that he will make you feel very at home before he takes you on a long and tiring musical journey that will leave you warm, content and smiling.
Such was the case at Eddies Attic on June 3, 2003. Peter took the stage alone at first, as always, and was quick to point out that he had good company in town on this special evening. His friend James Taylor was playing Chastain Park and Fleetwood Mac were at HiFi Buys Amphitheater, so he thanked us all for spending our hard earned dollars on the PM show. He then went into his own beautiful arrangement of a very old Fleetwood Mac song from the album "Bare Trees" called Sentimental Lady and the classic Carol King song "You"ve Got A Friend" as recorded by James Taylor. It was evident then, to even the first time listener that Peter Mayer is a man who mastered the fret board of his instrument LONG ago and playing to him now is like breathing to us. It is just natural, God given and beautiful. And the same can be said in spades for the rest of the seasoned musicians who make up "The Spare Tire Orchestra"
Bass player, back up vocalist and brother Jim Mayer is as accomplished on the bass guitar and the stand up bass as Peter is on guitar. Since they both studied music from an early age and had each other to lean on this is quite understandable. Guitarist Vince Varvel is an amazing guitar player in his own right and is too often overlooked. Vince has the rare ability of knowing when NOT to play as opposed to knowing WHEN to play. And most of all, he knows what to play when he should be playing it. His glistening, haunting vibrato accents give Peter"s music an added touch of mystery and class that some might not notice until it were not there. Percussionist, back up vocalist and guitarist Scott Bryan holds everything together with surprisingly very little equipment, but a mound of talent. Scott"s "Spare Tire" drum kit consist of a customized big musical box (which brand name escapes me at the moment) that he plays with two drum brush sticks, a percussion pad that he taps continuously on the beat with his left foot, a couple of cymbals and a small array of tiny hand held percussion instruments. Audience members are always drawn to Scott"s performance not only because of his unique sound, but because of his unusual visual appeal when he performs.
The performance the band gave Tuesday evening was like every other show I have seen Peter and TSTO perform. Nothing short of mind boggling and amazing. They played new arrangements of several old standards from Peters 7 secular CD releases, my personal favorites being "Green Eyed Radio" and "My Rainbow". Pete and the band also auditioned for us a handful of new songs that will be released on their new CD expected to arrive in August. The new songs lean more to the feel of what we found on Peter"s 1999 release "Romeo"s Garage" and were nothing short of spectacular. All of the new songs are classic Peter Mayer and are complex and intriguing, yet simultaneously very simple and moving. I cannot wait for the new CD to arrive.
After an exhausting 3 and a half hours of non-stop amazing, improvisational musicianship Peter and the band closed the evening by bringing their acoustic instruments into the audience and playing several requested songs for the audience up close and personal. This was a musical experience that would have to be seen and heard to really appreciate.
The integrity, intensity, honesty, emotion and love that Peter and his band put into their performances along with their appreciation for their audience is something that every person, especially musicians, should experience. Peter Mayer and his group not only give you the best bang for your musical buck that you will find ANYWHERE, but they also bestow upon you a musical lesson in love, hope, fear, happiness, sadness, life, friendship, family and faith, all while giving you a sense of "home" while you are in their presence. And we all know there is no place like home.
See Peter Mayer and The Spare Tire Orchestra. See them now. And be sure and check him out on the web at www.PeterMayer.com
But please... leave your Jimmy Buffett records at the door. What you find here you won't find in Margaritaville.