The show is a rare opportunity to see Mraz return to his acoustic roots in an intimate setting (1,406 seats).
Since the runaway success of the Jack Johnson-esque "I'm Yours" in 2008 (more than 170 million YouTube views), Mraz has been playing mostly arenas and large outdoor venues.
Mraz's most recent album, 2012's "Love is a Four-Letter Word," continued his emphasis on positive vibes but wasn't universally admired.
The British newspaper The Guardian found it "banal" and said, "even by his own standards this is stupefyingly insipid and pedestrian fare."
Mraz, whose followers adore him with guru-like devotion, doesn't apologize for seeking to leave concertgoers with smiles on their faces.
"In order to write 12 great songs, I have to write 80 songs, and I promise you 40 or 50 of those are either super cheesy or super dark and depressing," the soft-spoken musician said in the interview with Harris. "I don't want to take that cheese or that dark and depressing stuff on the road with me or ask any audience to come down with me."
Well regarded for his support of human rights, Mraz played in Yangon, Myanmar, in late 2012 to raise awareness about human trafficking. He was one of the first major Western musicians to play in that country (formerly Burma) after the easing of decades of oppressive military rule.
Mraz declined an interview request through his publicist, who said he's working on his next album. No release date has been set for the album, she said.
A child of the Internet age, Mraz's career blossomed through online exposure. He came up playing San Diego's coffee houses but didn't find his audience until he put his music online.
"My whole career began because I was always putting my music on the Internet," he said. "By the time I did my first tour, I already had an audience everywhere I went because they'd been listening for months or years online."
Early in his career, fans got to know Mraz's songs before they were released via MySpace and YouTube.
"I had a gig in Borlange, Sweden, ... and when I broke into 'I'm Yours,' which hadn't been released yet, ... it was as if I was singing the Swedish National anthem," Mraz said in January during an interview and performance at the National Association of Music Merchants show.
"They were all arm in arm singing 'I'm Yours' - and we all looked at each other stunned and said, 'We gotta record this song and put it on the next album.' "
Katie McDonagh, editor-in-chief of the Sonoma State Star, says she's been a Mraz fan for years and is looking forward to attending the show.
She said it's refreshing to have an artist at the Green Music Center who's so popular among students, but added that many students couldn't afford the tickets, even at half off. At almost $50, the tickets are "still largely out of many students' price ranges," she said.
Despite that, McDonagh said students are more excited about the Mraz show than the classical programming that's typically offered at the GMC. "I think students who are interested in attending a show at the GMC, but haven't been able to find the right one, have been waiting for a show like this for a long time."
Michael Shapiro, author of "A Sense of Place," writes about entertainment for The Press Democrat. Contact him at www.michaelshapiro.net.
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