Mayer Hawthorne Mistaken for Michael Bublé at ACL

Posted on Oct 10th 2010 10:30AM by Mike Ayers
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Roberta Parkin, Redferns / Getty Images

It's no secret that 2010 has been a breakout year for throwback R&B singer Mayer Hawthorne -- even he knows that. But just how big is he these days? Early in the day before his afternoon set at Austin City Limits, he was in Waterloo Records, the town's most famous store for all things musical.

While minding his own business, flipping through vinyl, a man approached him and said, "Can I have your autograph?" Naturally, Hawthorne was taken aback, flattered and most importantly gracious. "Yes," he said, and the man got out a pen and paper. "As I was signing it, the man leans in as I was writing and says, 'You're Michael Bublé, right?'"

Hawthorne isn't Buble big yet, but he did convert the thousands that showed up to check out his early afternoon set. Notable for blending a wide range of classic and modern R&B sounds (with a bit of chic-geek, too), Hawthorne mixed in a variety of what he described as "baby-making music" along with more recent tracks, like his version of Snoop Dogg's 'Gangsta Luv' and the Motown-inspired 'Make Her Mine.'

Hawthorne's been known to cover a song or two -- this past year at Bonnaroo, he pulled out the Temptations and Biz Markie, and for his ACL set he pulled out yet another classic, the Doobie Brothers' 'What a Fool Believes.' Obviously, no one can replace the blue-eyed soul of Michael McDonald, but Hawthorne's version was pretty spot-on in pitch. Those falsettos are always a tricky tightrope to cross; not so for Hawthorne. Next up is to obviously learn that Buble cut.

Hawthorne and his band "The County" are currently on tour throughout the U.S. for the next month on their third victory lap for 2009's 'A Strange Arrangement.'

Watch Mayer Hawthorne Live on the Interface