On April 12, Montana-based Americana songstress Madeline Hawthorne, along with the release of her single “Chasing the Moon”, has announced her upcoming sophomore album Tales From Late Nights and Long Drives, due June 12. Featuring 11 tracks – all of which represent various versions of Hawthorne herself – this record showcases a new angle within Hawthorne’s artistry as she takes on a unique approach with her storytelling and lyricism. Listeners catch a sneak peek of this profound songwriting with “Chasing the Moon” and last year’s release “Neon Wasteland”; today her newest single “Where Did I Go Wrong” has been released.
Inspired by starry skies and endless highways, “Chasing the Moon” is about Hawthorne’s life on the road. It’s often when you’re traveling that you’re left alone with nothing but yourself, your thoughts and the moon. With this loneliness comes independence, and this freedom is lived beautifully when accompanied by dusty cowboy boots and a trusty six-string. Hawthorne, a true folk poet and Americana storyteller at heart, writes music for those who are carefree, honest and prone to living while they’re young. When Hawthorne spoke with Melodic Magazine about her upcoming album, she talked about “Chasing the Moon”, how the new album expands upon her artistry and what’s on her mind while she’s out on the open road.
Thank you so much for taking the time today! I first wanted to ask – you’re definitely part of the singer-songwriter / folk genre. It’s a very specific genre in the way it connects with people through its storytelling and lyrics. What is it about the genre you do that draws you to it?
I feel like I consider myself under that umbrella of Americana that encompasses, like you said, singer-songwriter and folk. A lot of that comes through on “Chasing the Moon” specifically. That’s a very singer-songwriter inspired song. And this upcoming record definitely dips its toes into some country, some alternative country, some Blues. I’ve been influenced by all of that music since I was a kid and listened to a lot of that music growing up. So I think it just ingrained itself into my head from a young age. Then when I started writing songs – probably like a lot of people – I didn’t go into songwriting like, “Oh, how do you write a song? Are there steps that you take?” You just kind of start doing it and you pull from whatever your inspirations were.
You mentioned the upcoming album, Tales From Late Nights and Long Drives, which comes out June 12. What can listeners expect to see on the album?
This album feels like a sequel. It feels like that next step. On this upcoming record I’ve enjoyed getting into characters that have elements of myself, but it’s not necessarily like a journal entry. My first album felt like it was more something like that. All those songs were songs I really needed to get out and had needed to for a long time, so that one’s a very personal album, and this one I got a little bit more creative with my characters. I like to say that it almost feels like it’s 11 tracks and 11 different versions of me. If I had made a slightly different decision down the road, this version could be me. She could be me. So it feels like a sequel in the sense of, at the end of my first record, it was jumping off into music as a solo artist and really going for it. And then this is where we find that musician on her journey. She’s still trying to figure stuff out, and not all of it’s working the way that she hoped. It’s just all of the feels, all of the emotions that will come up when you’re a full-time touring musician trying to figure this thing out, because it’s crazy. It’s nuts out there in good and challenging ways. It feels like a bit of a roller coaster, but I hope in an enjoyable way for people.
You say that these eleven different versions of yourself aren’t completely you, but you put a little bit of yourself in them. How do you incorporate yourself in those eleven different characters? What kind of emotions do you express with these different characters?
In certain ways I’ve utilized my own experiences, interactions and relationships. It’s a combination of maybe something that a friend is going through and incorporating what I feel like that must be like and putting myself in their shoes, and then also imagining how I would feel if I were in that person’s position. The single “Where Did I Go Wrong” is like that. It’s a person who’s gone so far chasing their dream that they’ve lost the person that matters the most to them because they couldn’t pick their head up and see the mistakes that they were making until it was too late. I’ve had some friends that have gone through breakups in the last couple of years and I’ve experienced their pain and their trauma, and I’ve also imagined that had I made certain decisions or hadn’t picked my head up and made sure I took care of the relationships that mattered to me most, I could be sitting right there in their shoes too. So it’s been a way for me to process some personal things.
You say compared to your first record, that one was very personal stuff that you just had to get out and then this one you take a more storytelling approach. You’re kind of just experimenting with these different perspectives and feelings and that’s a very interesting concept. That’s very interesting as a songwriter to take on that method of songwriting.
I think for me it helped branch out and, like you said, explore different emotions and different scenarios and be able to paint with more of a broader paintbrush than being in my own head and in my own world. It was a way for me to experiment with different ideas, and yet I couldn’t help but insert some part of myself in there, whether that was intentional or not, it’s just kind of how it happened.
I was going to say that too. I like how even when you weren’t singing through your own perspective, it still came back to you. Going off of that, other than the songwriting aspect, in what other ways is this new album different from your 2021 debut Boots?
The recording experience was different. I recorded with some players out of the Pacific Northwest. We went to Bear Creek Studios outside of Seattle, which is a really magical and spiritual place that many artists have recorded at, including some that I look up to. Brandi Carlisle has recorded records there, The Lumineers and Zach Bryan too. And before them, this studio has been around since the 70s, so there were Polaroids of all of these old musicians from the 80s. It’s so cool. So just that recording experience alone was different from Boots. And you do hear some more elements of country. I really have been enjoying the pedal steel guitar, and I really love the sad, haunting sound that it can bring to songs. You’ll hear a lot of that and a lot of slide guitar. And it’s a pretty sassy record. Part of the experiences that are on that is just being a woman in the industry. Being a musician in the industry is challenging enough, but I’m putting my foot down and saying I’m here and ready to have some fun. So I hope that people have fun when they listen to the record, because I had a lot of fun making it.
You mention being a woman in the industry – what have your experiences been like as a woman in music? Like you said, it’s tough for any musician to pursue music, But obviously being a woman, you do face different obstacles that men wouldn’t.
I will say the interactions that I have had have luckily been mostly positive. It could be the communities of the places that I’m going, the style of music or maybe there are a lot of good actors in the music industry, but of course you hear the horror stories over the everyday interactions that are positive. But I do feel like the more outspoken you become, the more pushback that you get from people. Sometimes I feel like if I’m quiet and just behave, then I won’t get that negative attention, but if I speak out or if I dress a certain way, I get treated differently. So it’s making the decision every day of what battles you want to fight and when you’re going to just hold your head high and dress the way you want to dress, dance the way you want to dance, sing what you want to sing about regardless of whether or not that’s going to get you some negative attention that you honestly don’t deserve. But I will say overall it’s positive. There’s a lot of really strong women in the world of country and folk that I look to for inspiration and motivation to stay in this thing and keep going, so I’m happy I’m here. Even if it’s hard.
I’m glad to hear your experiences have been positive for the most part! Switching gears a little bit, I wanted to ask about your most recent single “Chasing the Moon” that you brought up earlier. For those who don’t know, what is the inspiration or the story behind the song?
Being a musician and an independent and solo musician for a long time, I spent a lot of time driving through Montana where I live and through the Rocky Mountain West region. They’re all really beautiful and inspiring places to drive and I spent a lot of late nights driving to and from gigs. The trade off of it being so beautiful and quiet here, is that you got to drive a lot further to get from city to city and show to show. So that song was written and inspired by Highway 191, which goes between Big Sky and West Yellowstone and it continues on from there. But I spend a lot of time performing in Big Sky and West Yellowstone Mountain. At the time that I started writing that song I was doing a lot of those shows and it’s just you, the moon, the stars and the trees. It can be lonely, but it can also be so beautiful and inspiring. You can kind of hear in the song there’s loneliness, but there’s just that drive to chase the moon and keep going. It’s a little bit hopeful and a little bit sad.
When it’s just you out in the open at night with your thoughts and the moon, what are some of the things you’re thinking about? What’s on your mind?
It’s rare that I’m driving alone these days because I mostly tour with my band. A lot of the time it will be a song. I’ll start working on something and I’ll turn the radio off and just kind of sit there for a while. I’ll try to keep my eyes on the road and pull up Voice Memo so I can sing into my phone whatever idea comes to my mind. It’s all over the place depending on where I’m going to or where I’m coming from. If I’m leaving home to go on a long solo journey, then thoughts are usually on what’s ahead and trying to wrap my mind around everything that’s going to be coming my way at the beginning of a tour. I do pretty much all of the tour management and all of the logistics, so that does take up a lot of time and space. And then usually when I’m on my way home from a tour, that’s when I’ll have my tour van and drive it by myself. I’ve actually done this the last several times up to the end of a long tour. I’ve ended in Denver, Colorado and then I drive the 12 hours back to Bozeman by myself and it winds up being a way for me to process everything that I just went through on tour. It’s one of the most elating times where I actually feel a weight lifted. The work is done, I can relax and then boom, that’s when a lot of songs start to come to my head because I have the space. I’m not weighed down with all of the other things that I’m worried about. I did it. I’ve got the road, let’s just drive.
Regarding the new album, you’ve said It’s for those who refuse to grow up too much. What does that mean to you?
Being a musician, I think a lot of us get inspired at a young age and have a vision in our mind of what it’ll be, whether people think it’s sex, drugs, rock’n’roll or glitz, glamor, fun experiences, new places. It can be a lot of great things. But you also have to grow up and take care of your body and take care of your mind, soul and spirit. That’s why I say not too much, because I’ve grown so much as a person in pursuing this career, but at the same time I refuse to take myself too seriously and I attempt to approach every situation with as much fun as I can just to let go of that weight. I like to play. Not just to play music, but be a playful human being and try and make light of all the crazy things that are happening around us and try and find joy like a child does. I try to take care of myself. But don’t don’t take this too seriously.
What can listeners find within the world of Madeline Hawthorne? What’s it all about?
I think you’ll find sassiness, joy, a little cheekiness and attitude, curiosity and wonder at the world around me and constant curiosity and desire to know the world and know myself. Maybe a little bit of confusion in there as well because it’s all those things hopefully wrapped up into a good time. I would say our live shows are a lot of fun, high energy rock and dancing and coming together to enjoy this musical experience together. I hope more folks get to come out and see shows that we’ll be playing this summer. And thanks to everybody for streaming the music so far.
Speaking of live shows, besides the new album, what other plans or projects do you have coming up that people should be on the lookout for?
I would say just keep an eye out for us on the road. We’ve got a lot of tour dates set up for this summer and fall, and I know the plan is to just keep playing shows and keep getting the name out there. We’re already working on songs for the next record. So just expect more music, more songs. It’s exciting times.
MADELINE HAWTHORNE TOUR DATES:
June 15 @ Live Oak Music Festival | San Luis Obispo, CA
June 27 @ Rail on the River | Berthoud, CO
June 28-29 @ Yarmony Music Festival | Bond, CO
July 4 @ High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA
July 7 @ Waterfront Blues Festival | Portland, OR
July 14 @ Under The Big Sky Fest | Whitefish, MT
Aug 10 @ People Fest | Yuba, WI
Keep up with Madeline Hawthorne: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Website
