Michael Nau
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michael Nau is known for a dreamy, reflective take on indie rock tinged with country, folk, psychedelic, and vintage pop influences. He fronted the like-minded projects Page France and Cotton Jones from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s before beginning to record under his own name in 2016. Though his prior solo releases also featured some version of a backing band, 2018's Michael Nau & the Mighty Thread rendered his head-in-the-clouds weekender tunes with a stronger, full-band sound. The 2019 solo album Less Ready to Go incorporated classic soul and reggae influences into his increasingly stylized retro sound, while 2023's twangier Accompany weaved steel guitars, strings, and more into its lush, echo-heavy design.
A native of Maryland, Nau formed his first group in Baltimore in 2004. Calling themselves Page France, Nau (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Whitney McGraw (keyboards, glockenspiel, vocals), Jasen Reeder (bass), and Clinton Jones (drums) released three albums of thoughtful, melodic indie rock in the vein of acts such as Death Cab for Cutie and the Decemberists, beginning with 2005's Come, I'm a Lion. The band signed with Suicide Squeeze for 2006's Hello, Dear Wind and 2007's Page France and the Family Telephone before Nau and McGraw formed Cotton Jones Basket Ride. Establishing a style-blending psych-folk that would become more closely associated with Nau, that project released a self-titled EP before shortening its name to Cotton Jones. Cotton Jones' full-length debut, The River Strumming, arrived via St. Ives in 2008, and the duo reunited with Suicide Squeeze for 2009's Paranoid Cocoon and 2010's Tall Hours in the Glowstream. A final EP, Sit Beside Your Vegetables, saw release in 2011.
Nau went solo for his next record, though his debut also featured McGraw -- by then Nau's wife -- among its many guests. Built from a selection of several years' worth of written material that was never fully realized, Mowing was issued by Suicide Squeeze in early 2016. Full Time Hobby gave it a European release later in the year, and his second solo album, Some Twist, followed in June 2017, also on Full Time Hobby and Suicide Squeeze. The Load EP, a collection of songs that Nau didn't think belonged on Some Twist, came out three months later. In 2018, he returned with Michael Nau & the Mighty Thread. Offering more of his dreamy, reverb-sweetened indie pop/rock but with a more robust presence, it was recorded in a Burlington, Vermont apartment with more than a half-dozen contributors, including guitarist Benny Yurco, keyboardist Will Brown, and drummer Graeme Gibson. The stand-alone 7" "No Quit" arrived on Karma Chief Records in March 2019 before a rejiggered backing lineup was featured on the full-length Less Ready to Go later the same year. Issued under Nau's name alone, it received a cassette release by Press On Records. He self-released April 2020's stripped-back So On So On, an acoustic guitar-penned solo effort he recorded in his attic.
His next album materialized at the prompting of producer/engineer Adrian Olsen (the Head and the Heart, Fruit Bats, Lucy Dacus), who invited Nau to record at his Richmond, Virginia studio. With sessions on the books, Nau wrote some songs and organized a band that included studio regulars such as McGraw, Brown, and multi-instrumentalist Seth Kauffman, as well as touring friends like multi-instrumentalists Mat Davidson (Twain, Langhorne Slim, Big Thief) and Ken Woodward (Twain, Buck Meek). Essentially recorded live in the studio as a band, the completed Accompany arrived on Karma Chief Records in December 2023.
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread
Folk - Released by Full Time Hobby on 3 Aug 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
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No Quit
Alternative & Indie - Released by Karma Chief Records on 12 Mar 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Rides Through The Morning
Alternative & Indie - Released by Karma Chief Records on 26 Jun 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dream Sitch
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 4 Dec 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Long Rattle
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 6 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Loose Dust
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 8 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buzz The Leaf
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 16 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Guessing While It Goes Around
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 4 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sideways
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 26 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Knots
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 7 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Survive (Rework)
Electronic - Released by Airloom on 11 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sideways (Rework)
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Nathan Sabatino
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 20 Oct 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Panicking Gong
Dream Sitch, Floating Action, Michael Nau
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 21 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Readjust
Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action
Alternative & Indie - Released by Airloom on 25 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo