Jason Mraz was once a Minnesota Renaissance Festival "pickle boy": "It was just completely another world"
MINNEAPOLIS — The second leg of Jason Mraz's summer tour makes a stop this Saturday evening at The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park.
For the singer/songwriter, it all started with a road trip 25 years ago.
"I bet it all on myself. I moved from Virginia out to the West Coast just following a dream, looking for adventure, looking for connections," Mraz said. "I thought if anything, I'll have an adventure and I'll become a better songwriter from the experience."
Four years later in 2003, his bet paid off with the release of his first single, "The Remedy."
"It was special lyrically because it was inspired by one of my childhood friends and his fight against cancer, and which he lived through through a positive mindset of saying, 'I won't worry my life away, and the only remedy for this is the experience,'" he said. "That really shifted who I would become and trying to be more of a songwriter with a purpose and try to use my superpowers for good."
Those abilities have earned Mraz two Grammys and platinum certifications for his albums "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things," and 'Love Is a Four Letter Word."
His single "I'm Yours" spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and "I Won't Give Up" became a top 10 hit.
Mraz is stopping in Minnesota in support of his eighth studio album, "Mystical, Magical, Rhythmical Radical Ride."
"I wanted to make an album that you could dance to, that inspired you to get up and dance and go after your dreams," he said. "Even midway in life, I can still pick myself up and start with a blank page and dream a new dream and go for it."
Mraz said those feelings played a part in his decision to do "Dancing with the Stars."
"I was very much open to new experiences. That's really where I am in life. And I came right out of the gate with the new album singing "I Feel Like Dancing," he said. "And shortly after I released the music video I got a phone call from 'Dancing with the Stars' and they said, 'Do you really feel like dancing? Because we have an offer for you.'"
Mraz accepted the offer and excelled in the ballroom with a runner-up finish in season 32. His new moves will be on display this weekend in Waite Park.
He's visited Minnesota many times over the years, from the Basilica Block Party to the Minnesota State Fair. But Mraz says perhaps his favorite memory had nothing to do with music.
"I was once a pickle boy at the Renaissance Fair," he said. "I had friends that were regular pickle boys and when I visited, they gave me the costume, they gave me the rundown on how to sell a dill for a bill, and it was one of my favorite gigs. It required a lot of improv and audience interaction and it was just completely another world."
So can Mraz dazzle Minnesotans and ren fest fans with photo or video proof of his time in Shakopee?
"I hope so. I have never seen any pickle boy photos because I mean this was '97. I mean, we weren't carrying digital cameras around yet you know," he said.
