Cameron Hawthorn is in the midst of a transformative stage in his career.
In that time, he’s released his two most successful singles to date, come out as gay and is continuing to receive messages of encouragement from listeners around the world.
With the success of those two singles, “Dancing in the Living Room” and “Oh Hot Damn!” under his belt, he looks back on them with newfound comfort and confidence as he looks forward.
“Since releasing ‘Dancing in the Living Room,’ my life has been very freeing and exciting. I’ve been able to live authentically and put 100% of myself into my music, which I was never comfortable doing before,” says Hawthorn. “Making the decision to just put it all out there was huge for me because I always feared that that part of me would be ridiculed, judged, or ruin my chance of a career in music. When I decided not to care what other people thought, everything changed.”
The Andover, Kansas native did just that with the music video for “Dancing in the Living Room;” addressing his sexuality again in a heartwarming moment at the end of the video, which was met by a reaction Hawthorn describes as “surreal.”
“’Dancing in the Living Room’ marked a new chapter for me with my music and in life. I had only dreamt of receiving a positive response, but actually experiencing it was surreal,” says Hawthorn. “Getting messages from people all over the world who were encouraged or inspired by the song and video really inspired me to keep pushing forward. That song will forever be special to me because of that.”
Hawthorn is looking to carry that momentum forward into his new single “To Break Hers,” a heartwrenching track, co-written with Lena Stone and produced by Greg Bates, matched with sparse instrumentation that brings the song’s emotion to the forefront.
“I think there’s always that pressure to ‘level up’ in a sense with releasing new music. I try to not let that pressure get to me and think of it as an invitation to put more of myself into my music,” says Hawthorn. “With ‘To Break Hers,’ it’s a very personal story I’ve been wanting to tell for a while now, and I think with the context of my last two singles, it’s the most vulnerable I’ve been.”
Years after a relationship he had with a woman, Hawthorn looks back, singing vulnerably about having to abruptly break things off when he knew things would inevitably end.
“I dated women before coming out, and this song is about one relationship in particular that was ‘going great’ until I abruptly ended it. I’ll never forget my break up with her. Her uncontrollable tears and how blindsided she was,” says Hawthorn. “When you break someone’s heart, you carry that with you. I needed to write this song to let go of that, an apology for stringing her along when I knew it wouldn’t last.”
Though “To Break Hers” tells a story close to Hawthorn’s heart, he hopes listeners learn to be honest with themselves and their partners in relationships as he gives a deeper look into his own personal story.
“I hope that listeners will get a little more of a glimpse into my story. ‘Dancing in the Living Room’ and ‘Oh Hot Damn!’ are songs that I’m proud to sing now and relate to my life now, but ‘To Break Hers’ is a song about life before that. And maybe someone out there will be able to relate,” says Hawthorn. “I definitely know people today, gay and straight, who are lying to themselves in a relationship they don’t want to be in. ‘Time does lots of damage,’ and I learned firsthand that time will eventually end in hurting the other person and yourself.”
With his first start-to-finish Nashville recording now under his belt in a year still filled with questions, Hawthorn is looking forward to the release of a new EP and holding out hope that he will get to play live music in some capacity.
“2020 definitely threw a curveball with my plans to tour,” says Hawthorn. “I’m excited to release my EP, which will be right about the corner from ‘To Break Hers,’ and I’m determined to play this music ‘live’ in some form or fashion.”
Pro Country 
Leave a Reply