James Mayer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur and children's advocate. He is best known as a longtime bassist for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, having played, toured[1] and recorded with Buffett since 1989. Mayer is also a children's musician and performer. He has had two Number 1 hits on Sirius/XM Kids radio, is a regular guest on national children's radio shows, and has performed live shows and presented workshops for children and educators in the U.S. and Europe.[2]
Early life and education
Mayer was born in Tamil Nadu, India, where his parents, James and Selma "Sammy" Mayer, worked as Lutheran Church missionaries[3] before returning to their hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, with their eight children.[4]
He attended Lutheran High School South. In 1978 at age 17, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for jazz study. He received a Manhattan School of Music and New England Conservatory Scholarship in 1980. At 19, he was a faculty member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Clinics at Northern Illinois University, performing with international jazz artists Pat LaBarbera and Ed Thigpen. From 1981 to 1983, he attended the St. Louis Conservatory of Music.
In 1985, Mayer formed the pop group P.M. with brother Peter Mayer and drummer Roger Guth. In 1987, they were signed to Warner Bros. Records and produced a Top-10 hit, "Piece of Paradise". In 1988, P.M. producer and engineer Elliot Scheiner introduced Jimmy Buffett to the band. In 1989, after recording "Off To See The Lizard" for Buffett, with Scheiner producing, Mayer and his P.M. bandmates joined Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.
In 1994, he taught a course, "Music and the Senses", at Webster University on integrating music and movement.
In 1997, he studied bass with Sitar master Usted Imrat Khan. The same year, he toured Europe with jazz pianist Lynne Arriale.
In 1998, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue off-tour work as a songwriter. He collaborated with Nashville writers and sat in with saxophonist Jeff Coffin[5] of the Dave Mathews Band, and he began writing children's songs for his nieces and nephews and performing live children's shows. In 2003, he recorded his first children's album, "Funky as a Diaper",[6] and the title song reached No. 1 on the charts.
From 2002 to 2004, he again performed and toured with the Peter Mayer Group.
Mayer has written, recorded and performed with Jimmy Buffett worldwide and has appeared on television shows, including The Tonight Show, The David Letterman Show, The Arsenio Hall Show, and Good Morning America. He performed at President Bill Clinton's 1992 inauguration as a member of the Coral Reefers.[7] In 1998, after co-writing "I Don't Know And I Don't Care" with Buffett for the "Beach House on the Moon" album, Mayer was interviewed on National Public Radio by host Scott Simon.
Children's songs
Mayer developed two lines of children's products under the brands Uncle Jim and IM4U through the non-profit organization, The IM4U Campaign, which founded in 2008 with the mission of eradicating childhood bullying. In 2005, Buffett's label, Mailboat Records, signed Mayer to a children's record deal.[8]
In 2013, he performed in Maine with country singer Shannon Selig to raise funds for anti-bullying programs.[9] In March 2014, he took his anti-bullying message to three elementary schools in Georgia.[10]
In 2012, Mayer began collaborating with early education Professor Ellen Booth Church on anti-bullying lesson plans that use music to deliver the message.[12]
Awards
Mayer was named Best New XM Kids' Artist of the Year in 2004 and 2005.[13]
in 2007, he received a Children's Music Web Award for Funky as a Diaper.[14]
Co-wrote the platinum album Banana Wind, which included "Overkill", "Jamaica Mistaica", "Desdamona", "Banana *WInd", "Cultural Infidel", and "Mental Floss" (1996)
"Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost" (1994)
Co-wrote "Moonlight Over Paris" for Vanessa Williams's Sweetest Days album (1994)
