Hard-to-categorize acoustic rock and SoCal pop act Jason Mraz is set to begin his world tour in Seoul next week.
Mraz will perform in Jamsil on Feb. 21 at the Olympic Hall in promotion of his latest album, "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things.
The 31-year-old singer-songwriter's first concert in Korea was last March and his second in August, both of which had sold out crowds.
Seoul will be the first stop before he embarks on his massive world tour which will take him to Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland and England before returning to the states with a trio of shows alongside Dave Mathews Band in the forthcoming spring season.
The San Diego-based Atlantic recording artist has just seen his hit single, "I'm Yours" shoot to No. 1 on A/C Radio outlets nationwide for the first time since his 2002 debut.
This was the cherry on top after being honored this year with Grammy nominations for Best Male Pop Vocals, Best Engineered Album and Song of the Year.
"I'm Yours," which began as a B-side demo from a limited edition of his last album "Mr. A-Z," has become something of an online phenomenon. Fans have tuned into streams of the song off of his MySpace music page more than 53 million times.
Mraz is most famous for his 2002 hit "The Remedy" and has been categorized with similar slacker-rockers like Jack Johnson and pop-blues singer John Mayer. The three share the amusing label of "white boys with soul."
Acoustic rock, reggae, pop, blues, folk and even hip-hop are all styles Mraz incorporates into his music, threaded together by a consistent atmosphere of laid-back coastal breeziness; a younger Jimmy Buffet, if you will.
Mraz is also famous for his off-the-cuff spontaneity during live performances. His penchant for adapting various impromptu renditions of his songs has been loved and admired by his legions of fans.
This is Private Curve Entertainment's sixth show from their "Beautiful Singer-Songwriter" series of concerts.
By Song Woong-ki
(kws@heraldm.com)
2009.02.13