John Mayer Draws From Southeast Rockers’ Well

If there’s something in the water of the Southeastern U.S. that caused the proliferation of such moderate rockers as Hootie & the Blowfish, the Dave Matthews Band and Matchbox Twenty, then John Mayer must have been drinking a lot of it. On Wednesday at the Troubadour, the young, Atlanta-based performer at times seemed a sure bet to follow those predecessors’ paths to success.

Nurtured on the same circuit as those bands and by the Aware Records label (which brought us the like-minded Train), Mayer showed he has the goods as a singer (almost a dead ringer for Matthews), songwriter (think Matthews without the tricky meters and with a heavy dose of Sting), guitarist (nimble in a clean sort of way on both electric and acoustic) and presence (personably confident).

Although the material on his major-label debut album, “Room for Squares,” is rarely compelling, the winking shuffle “My Stupid Mouth” and the yearning yet propulsive “Love Song for No One” are attractive and well-crafted, with above-average depth for mainstream approaches to romance. And “Your Body Is a Wonderland” seems destined to be the soundtrack for countless awkward dorm-room seductions.

Second-billed newcomer Shea Seger also showed a strong voice (Janis Joplin via Alanis Morissette) and persona (genuine gee-whiz excitement about playing Los Angeles).

But the Texan lacks both in strong material and musical focus, and her earnest attempts to communicate her inner feelings and philosophies (“It’s a principle in life that if you try to knock on a door, it just might open,” she preached, mantra-like, in one song) and to turn songs into showstoppers came up short.

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John Mayer and Shea Seger play Friday at the Roxy, 9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $12. (310) 278-9457. Also Saturday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 8 p.m. $12.50. (949) 496-8930.