Haircut is as Detroit as Faygo, Motown, Belle Isle, and Lafayette Coney Island with extra chili and onions all in one. He’s as white as the driven snow and as filled with soul as Aretha Franklin on Easter Sunday after a hotplate of Roscoe’s. And he’s one of the greatest friends I have.

“I can’t imagine Los Angeles without you,” he said to me over coffee when I told him I was moving back to Michigan. Truth was I couldn’t imagine Los Angeles without him either, but he wasn’t going to be there much anymore anyhow. Haircut was doing something many people move to Hollywood to do, but few accomplish — he was succeeding. He was becoming Stones Throw’s newest and most talked about artist, Mayer Hawthorne; a Soul revitalizer with a sound more organic than fresh herbs and spices.

The great thing about writing for TSS is we get to talk about music we really love, and it’s fairly surreal to be talking about your kin. I’ve been blinded to his hype and deafened to his buzz, because I’ve had no way of gaging what was fabricated in my mind and what was truly reaching the masses. When I originally approached Gotty™ with Mayer Hawthorne and The County, he wasn’t sure of the Yacht Rock I was trying to sell him. But after a glimpse of the Mayer’s heart-shaped 45, a write-up in Playboy and a live performance at the Grand Ole Party at SxSW, Gotty™ told me to put the shit out there.

So here we are. I’m a far poorer salesperson for Mayer Hawthorne than his music is. If you listen, it should sell itself to you. Enjoy!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mayer Hawthorne – “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mayer Hawthorne – “When I Said Goodbye“