Jason Mraz

Virginia native Jason Mraz began his music career a little differently than most by getting his interest piqued in music through musical theatre. He was attending New York’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy after high school when he first got an interest in the guitar at age 18. From there, he soon dropped out of the school to focus on songwriting and began busking the streets of New York.

He would eventually travel to San Diego, California and play various coffee houses, which ended in a weekly gig at Java Joe’s when he started playing with drummer Toca Rivera and guitarist Carlos Olmenda. It was during this time that he would also release several independent albums before signing to the major label, Elektra in 2002. One of his early “big” breaks was playing on a side stage for singer-songwriter Jewel in Hollywood.

To record his major-label debut album, “Waiting for My Rocket to Come”, he returned home to Virginia and enlisted the help of the band Agents of Good Roots (who had originally listed as influences on his early work). The resulting effort would later become a platinum-selling album and produce his first radio hit, “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)”. The album gained critical acclaim for blending many styles and genres of music, including roots, folk, hip hop and jazz. The album would also yield the singles, “You and I Both” and “Curbside Prophet”.

During support of this album, a live show was recorded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later released as “Tonight, Not Again” in 2004. He toured worldwide in support of “Rocket” and played with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band and Alanis Morissette, to name a few.

Mraz returned to the studio and released the album “Mr. A-Z” in the summer of 2005.