By Kerry Smith
Associated Press

John Mayer is looking forward to two things on his summer tour - perfecting his live set and trying out the new "NASA-like" bed sheets that he recently purchased online.

"They actually keep your body three degrees cooler than the room at all times," the singer-guitarist said.

Mayer, known for his playful, onstage banter, likes to joke around. But when it comes to his career, he's been pretty serious - and successful.

His 1999 EP, Inside Wants Out, (which he released and co-produced) has sold more than 300,000 copies. In 2001, he made his major-label debut, Room For Squares, and it sold almost four million copies as he captured fans with his low-key songwriting style and songs like "Your Body Is A Wonderland."

Now that he's got songs that many fans know by heart (his most recent album, Heavier Things, has sold 1.7 million copies), Mayer is looking forward to changing up his set list - every night.

He brings his eclectic bag of tricks to Riverbend Music Center on Wednesday night.

"What I'm going to take advantage of now is that my career is in orbit and that I'm not obligated to play any number of certain songs that people are expecting. I certainly will ... but I can kind of let up a little bit and get blood flowing to my knuckles again and explore a little more who I want to be as a guy on stage," he said.

Of course, the 27-year-old joke-ster's expectations don't stop there.

"I'm looking forward to getting very tan and slightly injured. I just want a snakebite or get bashed on the head with a coral reef. I want to nurse some wounds mid-show."