Mayer Hawthorne & The County @ King Tut's, 24 Oct

Michigan's Mayer Hawthorne arrives in Glasgow with his unique sounds
Event preview by Colin Chapman.
Published 07 October 2009

Growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mayer Hawthorne was soon introduced to neighbouring Detroit’s rich musical heritage thanks to his father playing its rich soul and jazz output on childhood car journeys.

The singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has certainly built on these early musical foundations, though now counts his biggest inspirations as Smokey Robinson and Curtis Mayfield.

Though all too easy to label Hawthorne’s sound ‘retro’, respect is definitely due to an artist that writes all his own songs and plays all his own instruments, a fact that definitely didn’t go amiss when Stone's Throw label boss Peanut Butter Wolf first heard him.

Impressed by the 29-year-old suburban white kid’s heartfelt sentiments, he signed him up based only on two songs, something he’d not done with any other Stone's Throw artist.

Since the tender-falsetto-meets-breakbeat of first release ‘Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out’, the plaudits have snowballed, with recent debut album ‘A Strange Arrangement’ gaining particular acclaim. Time to discover what all the fuss is about.

Comments (1)

Add a comment »

  • This is going to be sick! I have already seen Mayer as part of the Stones Throw Europe tour in Liverpool. He screwed up pretty bad on the turntables but his singing is a note perfect replica of the album. It's a good thing he has a full band supporting him this time round.

    Posted by David McNamara | Thursday October 2009 @ 17:08

    Report to moderator
Leave a comment on this article