Soft spoken and rather self-effacing in his descriptions of his experiences and his music, 25-year-old singer/songwriter Teitur Lassen, better known simply as Teitur, holds a talent that belies his nonchalant demeanor. After picking up organ more than a decade ago and quickly expanding to the guitar, Teitur will be opening for platinum-selling troubadour John Mayer 7:30 p.m. tonight at Urbana’s Assembly Hall.

Hailing from the tiny Faroe Islands just off the coast of Denmark, Teitur said he was surrounded by music since childhood. And despite the diminutive size of his homeland, Teitur described his home as “extremely musical.”

“People are very into music actually,” he laughed. “Singing is a very social thing.”

After picking up the organ, Teitur said he quickly developed a knack for the guitar as well and immediately began penning his own tunes. Writing as many as a dozen songs at a time, Teitur said writing original material was always more enjoyable than mining the grooves set by his pop influences.

“I’ve always been a singer and I’ve always concentrated on writing my own songs,” he said. “I was never too concerned with other people’s songs because I could write my own and it was more fun that way.”

Moving from his home at 17, Teitur spent the next few years playing in and living in Germany while playing throughout Europe and landing prestigious gigs in London and New York.

It was in New York last year that Teitur met producer Rupert Hine, who had previously worked with the likes of Suzanne Vega, Duncan Sheik and Tina Turner among others. Teitur found himself in rather illustrious company to say the least.

“I felt I wanted to make an album with someone who felt the same way about the music and it was important we made this record ourselves,” Teitur said of his collaboration with Hine.

Free of rigid time constraints or pressure, Teitur said writing his debut “Poetry and Aeroplanes” came easily primarily because he had spent so much time writing for the last decade. With preproduction done in Spain, Teitur and Hine were able to hammer out a majority of the album before trying to court a label to release the album.

The toughest task, Teitur said, was deciding which songs ultimately fit his vision for the album as a whole.

“From those songs there were hundreds to choose from because I had been playing and writing for such a long time,” he said. “Of course there’s always a couple you know are special and you know will work, but you have to have variety and songs that fit the entire album…. and even with all that you still cant have it all.”

After its Universal Records release, “Poetry and Aeroplanes” began receiving rave reviews and mass critical acclaim. Along with this came the offer to play with the likes of the aforementioned Mayer.

“(Mayer) approached us about the tour,” Teitur said. “He heard the music, he liked it.” .

With the opening slot, Teitur has the opportunity to play for larger audiences than many up-and-coming artists could dream of. And while many Mayer fans may be unfamiliar with Teitur’s engaging, melodic tunes, Teitur said concertgoers have been very receptive.

“People really seem to like it and respond to it and I’ve never played to audiences like this before and it’s been great,” he said.

The success hasn’t gone to the young singer’s head, however, as the European guitarist simply wants the opportunity to keep playing in front of as many prospective fans as possible.

“I just want to keep playing songs and get the band together and hope people keep coming to and enjoying the shows,” he said. “There’s no need to make the next album tomorrow and I’m not in a rush.”

Tickets for the show are still available for $35.