Cotton Jones’ set at a Feb. 22 Brighton Music Hall performance could only be summed up as truly stunning, leaving an unfortunately small audience begging for more. The band, which formed in Cumberland, Md., opened for Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, who also sang back up for on Conan recently. If you ask me, the roles should have been reversed in both scenarios. I emphasized this while talking to frontman Michael Nau, perhaps too many times throughout the evening, but I was in truthful mood and really wasn’t really digging Nicole Atkins at all. Why Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea had a larger audience than Cotton Jones was easy for me to realize: two hot chicks and two dudes who look like Jesus.

But enough resentment already, as Cotton Jones’ set could wipe away any negativity any soul could be feeling at any moment. If you haven’t guessed already, I am a big fan, but I wouldn’t even consider this article being biased. Everyone in attendance during the band’s performance – fan or newly introduced – really seemed perplexed and impressed by the beautiful sounds the band generated that night.

Cotton Jones is led by Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw – both members of the late, great Page France – and features a rotating group of players, most of whom have played together for quite some time – and it shows. The chemistry that bleeds through the veins of the band is alive and well, and with that chemistry comes some truly inventive music. Think a combination of folk, lounge, blues, and gospel – complete with Nau’s unique voice and McGraw’s angelic compliments (she also sings lead vocals on several tracks).

“We [Nau and McGraw] met through friends and I played music and she sang and we ended up singing together just goofing around or whatever,” Nau said after Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea wrapped up their set. “I think it’s really important to have somebody who has the same vision and does things for the same reasons, you know? So like, if we worked together and we both had separate goals and different reasons for doing it, it wouldn’t work out. But we do, and it’s pretty sweet.”

According to Cotton Jones’ Myspace page, “The music of Cotton Jones speaks of transition: the passage from one form, state of mind, style or place to another. Songs become doorways to the past, or windows that open on some unnamed future, where innocence can still exist and perfection is thrown to the wind.” I could not agree more, as the music is heavily influenced by the band’s seemingly eternal travels.

“It’s always kind of different,” said Nau. “Some places are beautiful to look at for the scenery but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good show. So you find different things in each town to relate to and be amazed by and joy and without that it’d be really difficult to be on the road.”

I spoke with Michael Nau several times while smoking cigarettes outside (I’m still not sure if he found this coincidental or creepy, but he is a genuinely kind person and easy to talk to – like that really cool, calm, and collected friend with incredible insight that everyone desires – so I eventually had no shame) and asked him for an interview after the show. He agreed without question, and I had never been so happy to be a nicotine fiend in my life.

Back to the transitions and travels. Cotton Jones does a whole lot of it, and the imagery dispersed throughout the band’s music proves it (Nau writes the lyrics, the band develops accompanying music). From 2007 to now, the band has released four EPs and three albums, all of which are fantastic (seriously, check them out), the latest being an EP titled “Sit Beside Your Vegetables” (Suicide Squeeze Records), which dropped the day before they played in Allston. A couple of songs were played from the new EP, a few from 2009’s Paranoid Cocoon and a few from 2010’s Tall Hours in the Glowstream. The set list was fantastic, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much in nearly one hour. But I didn’t care.

As for Nau’s inspiration in writing lyrics, he had this to say:

“I definitely can’t say there’s really any more beauty in moving around than being put and being at peace with what you’re doing. We kind of move around because it’s our job in a way, but I think what’s most important is like, trying in all of that to find peace in our hearts some way, you know, because our bodies might be moving around the country but the issues we have in our everyday life remain the same. You can’t really get away from that.”

Nau continued, “I used to think when we were on the road that what we were doing was trying to escape some reality that we didn’t want to face, you know, but since you realize that you don’t really escape anything, you just kind of carry it all with you wherever you go. I think everybody’s different, so by no means would I say that my life or my interests or my reasons for moving from place to place makes anything easier or is anymore worthwhile.”

Do you see what I mean about this guy’s insight? Wait until you hear his lyrics and Cotton Jones’ music. I’d strongly recommend checking it out at myspace.com/thecottonjonesbasketride/music. You’ll want more – trust me.