Do you remember Remy Shand? The singer emerged in the early noughties, released a grandiose album on Motown, full of blue-eyed soul, with several Grammy nominations, and then disappeared. Andrew Mayer Cohen from Ann Arbor, born 1979, got to know and love classical Motown soul in a roundabout way via the hip hop and skater scene. And meanwhile he is on his 4th album: “Man About Town”. He mostly recorded his music alone, so as to save money for samples. His motto: “Soul has to be real and contain mistakes, only then will it get good!” His debut “A Strange Arrangement” was released in 2009 on the hip hop label Stones Throw Records which considered Hawthorne’s devoted reconstructions to be unknown originals. Hawthorne’s blue eyed retro soul not only draws on classics ranging from Curtis Mayfield to Smokey Robinson, but also on tasteful Yacht Rock as it has been celebrated by Hall & Oates, the Doobie Brothers, Robert Palmer and Steely Dan since the mid 70ies. When you listen to Mayer Hawthorne’s songs, you will instinctively listen out for Michael McDonald’s voice in the background!
