SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Mayor Kevin Faulconer proclaimed Tuesday to be "Jason Mraz Day" in San Diego in honor of the North County singer-songwriter's upcoming world concert tour.
The tour is scheduled to kick off Thursday night with the first of three shows at the San Diego Civic Theatre, which is a stone's throw from the mayor's office.
"We want to say a special thanks to Jason ... not only for the music that he brings and what it means to people all across the country and the world, but what he does offstage, as well, and how proud we are as San Diegans of Jason," Faulconer said.
Mraz grew up in Virginia and first came to San Diego in 1999 as part of a tour of California in which he lived out of his car. He rose to prominence locally by playing area coffee houses.
"San Diego was the right scene for me," Mraz said at a news conference with the mayor.
He settled in the North County, where he runs an organic avocado farm when he is not recording or performing. His farm is a major supplier of avocados to the Chipotle chain of Mexican eateries.
His foundation provides support to schools in the San Diego Unified School District. He told reporters that he spent the morning at Burbank Elementary School in Logan Heights.
Faulconer presented Mraz with what he called "the first-ever mayoral guitar picks," which Mraz said he would use in his shows.
His tour will run through mid-November and make stops throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan.