Mayer Hawthorne

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• hype
• check out
• classy
• throwback

• retro
• put a spin on
• vintage
• sport

• carbon copy
• soul

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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The key to doing retro right is putting a modern, personal spin on it. When you wear vintage clothes, you don’t want to look like you’re sporting a costume, right? Similarly, musicians who are obviously influenced by artists from an earlier decade need to find some way of making their music sound original. Otherwise, they might be thought of as dull and unimaginative.

Mayer Hawthorne seems to have found the right blend of old and new. His songs have a lot in common with 50s and 60s soul, but they still sound hip and current. Listen to Devan tell Jason about seeing Mayer Hawthorne perform live.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Jason

Devan:  So, I read that Justin Timberlake was hyping this guy, Mayer Hawthorne, so I checked out his show the other day. Have you heard of him?

Jason:  Yeah, he’s great. I feel like he brings me hope for this generation, that we’re gonna be classier than we have been so far.

Devan:  It was definitely a classy show. His band was…they just looked like a ‘50s professional band. They were all wearing suits, like definitely a throwback to another generation, a different time.

Jason:  Did you feel like he put his own spin on it, or was it just a carbon copy of music from the past?

Devan:  Oh no, it was definitely his own spin, he definitely modernized it. And the songs…you know, he’s very soulful but he definitely puts a modern spin on it to make it the kind of songs you could still hear on the radio today or even, if they remixed one of his songs you could hear it in the club.

Jason:  Wouldn’t it be cool if people just adopted the fashion that goes with that music and started wearing like suits with skinny ties and stuff?

Devan:  Yeah. Well this was the funny thing about the show, too, talk about the mixing of the classic and the modern, was that they were all wearing the black suits but they all had Nike Dunks on.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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