John Mayer took to Instagram early Sunday morning for his latest episode of Current Mood, in which the Dead & Company guitarist/vocalist spoke about anxiety, COVID-19 (coronavirus), quarantines, and more.
In typical Current Mood fashion, Mayer updated fans on his life, discussed essential topics of the day, answered questions from the comments, and, of course, sprinkled in some light humor for good measure.
“Some of you are watching this live, and some of you are watching this on playback because it’s four in the morning, and you can’t sleep,” he said as he began the episode. “And you just woke up in a panic saying, ‘fuuuuuuuuu!’ I mean, it’s a f**k so long, there’s no ‘ck,'” Mayer said jokingly, referring to the present panic and anxiety over coronavirus.
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He then went on to explain that this episode of Current Mood was a surprise, as he didn’t plan to record this week or this month. Mayer hasn’t filmed an episode of Current Mood since December, as he has been diligently working on a new album, and this 4:00 a.m. stream came as a surprise to the over 16,000 people that tuned in live.
“I wanted to move my mental energy over to making a record, to lyrics, instead of songs about CVS receipts,” he said when explaining his social media absence. “Let me tell you something,” he continued, “when this record comes out, it’s either going to be your favorite record of mine or your least favorite.”
Throughout the episode, he moved into a lengthy discussion about anxiety before ending with the topic of quarantines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While self and state-mandated quarantines are challenging to process, Mayer stressed the importance of the situation.
“I want to leave you with this,” said Mayer, as his tone got more serious. “You are sacrificing certain aspects of your time so that other people, some you know and some you don’t know, get more time on their life. You give someone else—many other people sometimes—years on their life by changing a certain aspect of pleasure in yours. I cannot think of a more rewarding ratio of what you have to do to what someone else gets from it.”
Watch the entire, 49-minute live stream below:
John Mayer – Current Mood – 3/15/20
[Video: Guitar Music Pro]
Assuming that the situation surrounding COVID-19 gets better by July, Mayer will embark on a lengthy summer tour with Dead & Company, starting in Boulder, CO (7/10). Visit the band’s website for the latest tour information.