Vote for Mayor Hawthorne! (ok, it's really spelt Mayer. But for the sake of a catchier caption...)

"Boston, I don't know what you're waiting for -- but we're the headliners."

Mayer Hawthorne's tongue-in-cheek comment at the start of his set to make some noise goaded Boston off their feet and cheering last Thursday night, February 8th at Brighton Music Hall. If you're at Brighton Music Hall, chances are you're already on your feet at the majorly SRO-venue, but in any case, it jolted the crowd awake and snapped them out of their cool, hipster apathy.

WFNX, Corona and Malibu Black sponsored the free show. The opening band, The Sterns, a native Boston band opened for Mayer Hawthorne and the County, the suit-donning, jazzy-soul-throwback band who kick off their World Tour on Feb 23rd in Auckland to celebrate the late-2011 release of their album How Do You Do.

Born in Ann Arbor, MI, outside of Detroit, the 33-year old lead singer Mayer Hawthorne (born Andrew Mayer Cohen) incredibly has no formal training, and, up until a couple years ago, had no hopes of taking his music public. It took only two songs for Stones Throw Record head man Peanut Butter Wolf to sign Mayer Hawthorne, resulting in his debut album A Strange Arrangement, highlights of which include "I Wish That It Would Rain" and "Green-Eyed Love" both performed last Thursday night.

After releasing his first debut album, every major record label was busting down Mayer Hawthorne's door to sign him. With only a month to go until his sophomore album release date last year, Mayer jumped ship from Stones Throw and signed with Universal Republic, a decision he attributes to the fact that Universal Republic understood his vision and music clearly. Key tracks from the album include "No Strings," "The Walk," and "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" also featured at the show.

As a performer, Mayer Hawthorne breathes class and soul. With a hair-pin-turning falsetto and unapologetic attitude, he takes us back in time when a love song was really a love song, not a mangled pelvic thrust of synthesized beats and cheap, contrived lyrics. His bandmates ooze the same cool cat vibe with their mixture of matching grey suits, big hair, and opaque sunglasses.

Charming and piquant, Mayer Hawthorne declared at one point it was "picture time," during which he swiveled side to side with mock histrionic poses so the crowd could take shot after shot with their SmartPhones. After this segue, he encouraged everyone, "Ok. Picture Time is over. Now we're going to pretend like we're all actually here. In real time. And it doesn't matter if we catch it on video because we were here."*

I encourage you all to see Mayer Hawthorne in real time when they return to Boston at the Paradise with The Stepkids on Saturday, April 21. Doors at 6 PM, All Ages show, Advance Box Office Price $18.

*Note: This is more like a paraphrase.

Lord, I'm a Fool for an Old School Freight Train

Looking for Ben Harper on Grooveshark during work the other day, I stumbled upon Old School Freight Train, a seismic, otherworldly bluegrass band that has literally left me with an unquenchable thirst for more. Alas, this band is the J.D. Salinger of the Interweb, and seems to have disappeared circa 2006 with their last album Six Years. I seek in nooks and crannies for the last droplet of information in the canteen and come up parched.

Things we know:

The band formed in 2003 in Charlottesville, VA.

The lead vocalist and guitarist's name was Jesse Harper.

They may have toured with Josh Ritter, which makes them 700 times cooler than they are already.

They covered Ben Harper and Coldplay in CMH's Pickin' On series.

And. The band is the smoothest fucking bottle rocket of bluegrass I've ever heard.

The Pickin' On series was an idea drummed up by CMH Records's David Haerle (son to co-founder Martin Haerle) where bluegrass bands paid tribute to well-established rock, pop, and country groups. But, contrary to the series' name, there's no heckling or noogies -- it's pure idolatry to the musicians and bands they riff on. How can a cover take you to a new place? you ask. It's a cover -- it's recycling, rehashing. The answer is OSFT, who cover Ben Harper and Coldplay better than Ben Harper and Coldplay could cover themselves, and in a sixth dimension -- another realm. The melodies are larger than life and crescendo up and down like a catarata; spine-tingling and mystical. These are instrumentals, I might add, which is even greater adversity training and deserves bigger props for the successfully beautiful sounds.

Once clicked, OSFT's official page (according to Wikipedia) brings you to a site with a big picture of marshmallows. So, where did you go Old School Freight Train? This girl wants to know. And also wants a smore.

Heart of Glass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4dc0CiMGw8

For the real deal, go to grooveshark.com and check out OSFT Pickin' On Series: Pickin' On Ben Harper. Tracks "The Woman in You" and "With my Own Two Hands" = divine.

Feel Like It's New Year's Every Day: Listen to Macklemore

Seattle mc Ben Haggerty, who goes by the moniker Macklemore, has got a special something, a sonorous centrifugal force that pulls you in to its beautiful, incisive orbit. This draw results from a combination of refreshingly honest lyrics, a frank willingness to reveal personal and intimate nooks and crannies, relatable storytelling, and unexpected turns in his tracks. If you were lucky enough to snag a ticket to his show this Wednesday, April 13 at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston, consider it your Willy Wonka golden ticket of spring 2011.

To explain the title of this post, New Year's Day is how I feel when I hear Irishman Macklemore's lyrics: It's time to make resolutions to be better, and to just be in a pure and beautifully present sense. It's like we're watching a crysallis break open and out comes Macklemore. And his songs make us feel like we can do it too -- that we can be the best version of ourselves. These realizations have not spontaneously generated in moments of cartoon-lightbulb-switched-on-over-the-head: Some have been hard-earned through tough bouts of substance abuse, an issue he chronicles in Otherside, meaningfully employing RHCP's same-titled track in the song.

Macklemore tackles tough themes like this with an uncharacteristic and unapologetic attitude. Produced by Ryan Lewis, "Wings" is a verbal tapestry woven with anti-consumerist threads through a cool and hypnotically riveting childhood story. The chorus of children singing in the song lend an eerie and poignant element that takes the song to a whole new level.

Irish Celebration, a track that's sure to be a winner with our ubiquitous McDonoughs and McVarishes in Boston next Wednesday, implores listeners to carpe diem the hell out of life and “Live tonight cause you can’t take it with ya.” It's a celebration of heritage, life, struggles overcome, and of course, a little beer and whiskey. We can dig that in Boston -- consider Brighton Music Hall your open-armed Ellis Island next Wednesday, Macklemore.

A few more tracks/video not to miss:

Kings

The Town

Vipassana

Download a few tunes from KEXP courtesy of NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/135145001/macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-the-joy-of-rap