As a perfect accompaniment to the beautiful spring that has most definitely sprung, and as a preview of his new Impressions EP, MidWestern-turned-West Coast soulster Mayer Hawthorne gives us this cover he made of Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky.” The EP will be a compilation of covers that Mr. Hawthorne and his band The County have been playing out as they have toured the hell out of his debut record A Strange Arrangement. He leaked it on his Twitter today with the promise that more info will come tomorrow, but for now we’ve blue skies and “Mr. Blue Sky.” Go here to download it.

Christmas time really is here! I know it might be hard to tell in the middle of all this rain and crap weather, but I ate some gingerbread cookies last night and there are tons of lights up on the Avenues. So there is really no denying it.

Add this Mayer Hawthorne track to all your holiday mixtapes and iPod playlists. The soulful singer’s take on the Vince Guaraldi classic is pretty subtle. The kind of thing you can just put on in the background while your sitting by your fireplace sipping on some egg nog and falling in and out of sleep.

Don’t celebrate Christmas? Neither does Mayer. “All the best Xmas songs were written by Jews, and Chanukah songs suck,” he said on Twitter. It’s true, too! And “Christmas Time is Here” is the kind of track that can be played all year, regardless of religious practices. Stream it below or download it here.
Mayer Hawthorne – Christmas Time Is Here by Mayer Hawthorne

There’s some words to describe Mayer Hawthorne at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night: Swagger. Fresh. Showmanship. Fly-as-hell. This is a guy who knows how to stoke whatever flame he has going for himself. And when that flame is super big to begin with – getting it stoked is a huge accomplishment. Did you know that Mayer Hawthorne is merely this dude’s porno name? Meaning: It is his middle name (raised as Andrew Mayer Cohen) and the street he grew up on (Hawthorne). When a guy comes to the stage with enough confidence to go by this kind of name, you know it is something special.

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