ABC/Image Group LAWhen Maroon 5 kicks off their Red Pill Blues tour Wednesday night in Tacoma, WA, Julia Michaels — who collaborated with the band on the Red Pill Blues album — will be joining them as their opening act. Despite her terrible stage fright, Julia’s ready to take on the massive tour…thanks to Adam Levine’s calming presence.
“Adam is a really awesome person and he’s kinda like a mentor to me,” she tells ABC Radio. “I text him and I panic. I’m like, ‘What if I mess up?’ He goes, ‘Just laugh it off.’ Like, ‘Laugh at yourself.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, right! Duh!’”
In addition to writing her own hits, like “Issues,” and working with Maroon 5, Julia has most recently written songs for Shawn Mendes and American Idol winner Maddie Poppe. So, will she find time to write while out on the road?
“I’m gonna try,” she says. “Writing for me on the road is so hard just ’cause it’s so task-oriented and everything’s moving so fast that I don’t really get the time to sit down with a guitar. But hopefully!”
As for what fans can expect from Maroon 5’s set, guitarist James Valentine says that in addition to bringing Julia onstage for a duet, they’ll be “trying to make as many people happy as possible” — no easy task, considering they have more hits than they could ever cram into one single concert.
Bur, James notes, “It’s a disappointment if you go to see one of your favorite bands and they don’t play your favorite song. So there’s certain songs that I think we’ll always play.”
According to James, Maroon 5’s “must-plays” range from “She Will Be Loved” and “This Love,” to “Moves Like Jagger,” “One More Night,” “Maps” and recent single “What Lovers Do.”
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