PHOTO: John Mayer out with brother Carl Mayer

John Mayer is one of the more provocative popular musical artists going.  His music has evolved into more of a blues based focus following the mega-success of his breakthrough pop songs like “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”  His frequent foot in mouth candid interview comments always make the rounds.  Case in point, the sexual napalm description of his ex-lover Jessica Simpson’s bedroom prowess.

So what keeps a man like Mayer from floating out into space?  You can get that straight from the horse’s mouth as he has continually cites his brother Carl (seen above) as an important grounding presence in his life.  At a concert at Jones Beach John brought Carl out on stage to play guitar and had the following to say about him:

“They said well when you get famous people get weird.  And they got weird but this guy (pointing to Carl) didn’t get weird.  This guy got protective.  He got even more alert.  He got even better senses of who was around him and why.  And that is a trait for a man that I find as one of the more admirable traits in the world.  So you should all have a brother like Carl if you want to get famous.”

Here’s a clip from that performance including the introduction.  The two brothers jam together on John’s song “Why Georgia.”

That’s really a touching moment from John, a man known for not so touching moments of public oration.  The photo above of John and Carl was taken on November 13th, 2010 outside Pee Wee Herman’s popular show on Broadway.  I love how John looks like a star with the frock and the old school kicks while Carl is straight laced in a v-neck sweater and khakis.  In other words, brothers.

Photo: www.splashnews.com