A member of
Athletic Mic League and
Now On, Ann Arbor native and longtime eclectic DJ/producer
Andrew Cohen began recording soul-seeped material as something of a joke, not planning on it to reach beyond his circle of friends and family.
Mayer Hawthorne, the pseudonym
Cohen used for the songs, eventually took on a life of its own. When a couple
Hawthorne songs were played for
Peanut Butter Wolf, the Stones Throw label head was baffled; he initially thought he could have been hearing re-edits of obscure late-'60s/early-'70s soul singles, not the work of a multi-instrumentalist who laid everything down himself. Subsequently signed to Stones Throw,
Cohen debuted
Hawthorne with "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" b/w "When I Said Goodbye," a pair of scratchy and bittersweet tales of heartache, on red, heart-shaped 7" vinyl. The "Maybe So, Maybe No" 12" followed shortly thereafter, which preceded the full-length
A Strange Arrangement, released during fall 2009. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide