~ by joel martens ~
The world can sometimes seem to change in a flash and then conversely, at an impossibly slow pace. One thing is for sure, our great social experiment is a never-ending process of transformation, reaction to the alteration… and then even more change.
As LGBTQ people, we have seen our share of death and rebirth: Exhilarating wins and devastating setbacks, times that moved us forward and times that send us sliding backward down the hill we’d worked so hard to climb. In the end, that’s part of how life works. It’s all reminiscent of a great country song voicing all the pain and joys around love, heartbreak, losses and rewards… all the things that make us beautifully human.
There’s another lyrical tune coming from the country world these days and it’s getting louder. It’s the sound of out, LGBTQ musicians singing proudly. Country-adjacent singer k.d. lang came out in 1992, Chely Wright was the first well-known artist to come out as gay in May of 2010, Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman followed in 2014 (all four of whom have been interviewed in The Rage Monthly), singer, songwriter, and record producer Shane McAnally, singer/songwriter Brandy Clark, CMT personality Cody Alan… and the list is growing.
The most recent to open up about his sexuality is newcomer
Cameron Hawthorn, who is just starting to make waves in country music. With his new song, “Dancing in my Living Room” Hawthorn poignantly addressed his sexuality by sharing intimate couple moments as they dance—you guessed it—in their living rooms. They include a lesbian couple, an older pair and Hawthorn himself with his male partner.
He sat down with The Rage Monthly to discuss what the milestone meant to him and how he got there.
One of my favorite things I found when researching you was your story about running around the house as a kid singing “Somewhere over the rainbow…” I remember thinking, “Oh my God, we’re twins!”
(Laughs) I love, love Dorothy and Oz. It’s funny, I didn’t come out until later in life, but it was always a thing for me. I totally owned that part of my life and I guess I never connected the dots. I was talking about this with someone else not that long ago, it’s an interesting phenomenon about how we identify with that music and the song and that character. People identify so much with her resiliency and in her refusal to give up. I don’t know exactly what or why it is, but it fascinates me.
I think it’s all about hope and believing that the outcome will be a good thing in the end. She is scared, lost and apart from her family, but never gives up looking for a solution… that’s something we can all relate to. I‘m curious, was music always a part of your life growing up or was it something you came to later?
It was around me growing up. I watched a lot of musicals and then was in musicals and stuff like that. I played piano from a young age and was in choir, but neither of my parents were musicians. I loved musical theatre and I grew up on Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma and all those classic musicals. In that way I think that music has always been a part of my life.
I like to ask people what their earliest memories of music are or if someone in their family was musical. The roots of a musician’s sensibility are a very interesting phenomenon to me. Is there something else that stands out for you?
Honestly, singing along to Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy would be my thing. Though… and this is so little and trivial, but my parents would teach me songs to remember my address. There’s actually a video, I have it on YouTube somewhere. (Laughs) I was really little, like probably three or four and I’m singing a song about my address. So yes, music has always been there.
You’ve described yourself as a country/Americana/folk musician. Is that still accurate and if so, where did you first get introduced to that music? Is it what you listened to as a kid?
All of my extended family is from Oklahoma and I have memories of going over to visit them and the radio would be on out on the back porch. We’d be listening to George Strait and older music like that, so country music was always part of my growing up. As I became a teenager, I loved pop music too, and I started getting into Gavin DeGraw, that singer songwriter type of thing. My sound is sort of a blend of both. For a long time, I didn’t want to be country but then decided it is a part of who I am, and I want to own that. Now that I’ve done it, I’ve fallen in love with country music even more.
That music is so different now than it was, I grew up with singers like Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. I’ve learned to appreciate classic country so much more now than I did when I was young, it’s really all about storytelling.
I felt the same. As a teenager, I wanted to be in with what was hip and cool, but I’m kind of re-learning some of that old music now, too. It’s funny because I’ll look up artists like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, listen to them and I’m like wait, I’ve heard this song before. It completely takes me back to my grandparents and it’s such a part of me.
Let talk about “Dancing in my Living Room,” which I love by the way, and what a wonderful video. Tell me a little about what the inspiration was for the song and how you put the video together.
I literally wrote “Dancing in my Living Room” just after dancing with my boyfriend at the time. It was one of those things, I don’t know, I was just sitting around and I had this idea. It just felt so simple and the video kind of developed from there. I wasn’t out as an artist up until last year and when I came out on social media, this was really the first time I had ever written a song around it. This was a chance to put a real story into a song, especially with the music video. To me the song is just about love in the end, but the video was an opportunity for me to put myself out there.
I thought your posting was very touching about how seeing Boy Erased and Bohemian Rhapsody in succession, inspired you to come out. Boy Erased was such a seminal film, and so well done. I can understand why it would change someone and why it inspired you to take that risk. Had you been considering it for a while before you saw the films?
I definitely had been thinking about it for a while. I was already out to my family and friends and as an artist I really want to be able to use my voice, not only to hopefully inspire people, but to be authentic and true to who I am as a person. After seeing the movie with my friend who is gay, he was like, “People need to see this movie and I can’t wait to post something on social media about it.” I literally just had the same thought, “Man, I want to do that, I want to post something about it,” but I couldn’t because I wasn’t out and as an artist, it felt like it would be sort of weird or random. Nobody really knew that part of my life on social media, so, after seeing Boy Erased I was definitely thinking about it. And then seeing Bohemian Rhapsody, it was like icing on the cake.
That’s one of the reasons I think that positive portrayals in music, film and television are so important. It gives people a chance to see themselves and then proceed however they see fit. I applaud you for doing it.
Thank you for that.
You’ve had a little time to process the experience and responses since the video came out. What’s been the most surprising thing for you?
All of the love. My biggest fear in doing it was that I was going to get a lot of push back, and honestly it’s been like 98 percent love. The negative has been so tiny and I don’t even care because there’s so much awesome. What’s great too is it’s not just from LGBTQ people and I think that that’s really important. I am gay and I want my music to reach that audience, but I also want to reach a bigger world. At the end of the day, “Dancing in my Living Room” is a song about love and it’s universal in that way.
What has been your favorite fan response so far?
Probably my favorite YouTube comment was, “Oh my gosh, this warms my heart” and then somebody replied with, “This warms my big, old straight heart.” I loved that one. Another favorite was from a young girl just the other day who said she used “Dancing in my Living Room” to come out to her conservative, country-loving friend. Seeing the video and a gay country artist made her more accepting and that to me is why I’m doing what I’m doing. It’s pretty amazing the power of music—I mean it’s just crazy to me— it’s beautiful.
Are you planning to release a CD or an EP soon? How about touring?
I am releasing new music soon and that will lead to an EP. I’m really excited, it’s going to be in the summer or fall… sooner than later. People can expect it within the next few months. Once the new songs come out, I can’t wait to play shows and get that going. It will be so much fun to actually meet people who have heard the songs. It’s definitely in the planning stages but coming soon as well. I can’t wait for that.
For more information about Cameron Hawthorn, check out his Facebook page or go to cameronhawthorn.com.
A Little More Out of Cameron’s
Living Room:
What are your top songs and artists you’re currently listening to or listen to?
I’m listening to a lot of classic country right now, Elvis, the Everly Brothers and I’m loving Mac Miller and James Taylor, more the singer songwriters. I listen to new music that comes out on Spotify every Friday, just to get a sense of what’s going on. I’m all about catchy pop and some of the current country stuff.
Who would you most like to sing a duet with?
I’m gonna go with Kacey Musgraves. I think she’s just an inspiration and I would love to sing “Over the Rainbow” with her.
What’s your favorite television binge right now?
I don’t have a ton of time, but the latest one I got into is probably Westworld. I loved it and actually watched the first season twice. I haven’t finished the second season yet, but I just loved it.
What’s your favorite feel good film?
I’m going to go with Walk the Line, I love that movie. Towards the end you get into the darker side of Johnny Cash, but I just love a good love story, and his pursuit of music.
How about a favorite guilty pleasure?
Girl pop music. (Laugh)
Are you a morning or a night person?
Definitely night… I wish I was a morning person. I’m a definitely a coffee person so, if you give me coffee, then I can be a morning person. (Laughs) I’ve heard about these alarm clock coffee makers and I need to get one!
If your life was a musical, which one would it be?
That’s a good question. I’m going to go with the musicals that I told you about in the beginning. But, you know what, actually I’m going to go with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Even though it’s not one of my favorite musicals, I love the story. All the imagination and creativity of dreaming that world. Sometimes I feel like I live in a little bit of my own fantasy world. (Laughs) Being with Dick Van Dyke would be so fun, he’s just a happy person, and he’s still going at it. Did you see him in the new Mary Poppins film? I want to be that spry when I’m 90!