“Music videos are a chance for me to tell more of the story of the song. So while I always strive for my music to be universal, I’ve been letting more of my personal story play a part in the videos,” says Cameron Hawthorn to CMT about the video for his latest single, “Love at First Sight.” The openly gay singer-songwriter, originally from Kansas, now living in Nashville, continues, “For a long time I’ve had this vision of my life in the country, living on a ranch, and only in my wildest dreams would that be with my dream cowboy.”
The clip also has an incredibly personal and familial connection to Hawthorn, who adds, “the jacket I’m wearing in the video is my grandfather’s jacket who recently passed away. My Pappa was an Oklahoma cowboy, always watching country westerns, and loved wearing his bolo tie, cowboy hat and boots, and this jacket. I had come out to my Pappa before he died in a letter I wrote him and my Mamma. He never said anything about the letter – he wasn’t the kind of man who spoke about his feelings – but I didn’t need him to. After he passed away, my Mamma gave me his jacket, and I decided I would wear it in the video. I released the song on his birthday, and when we were shooting the video, I can remember looking at the sunset and knowing he was looking down and smiling.”
In total, Hawthorn hopes that his yearning desires inspire people to “keep holding on to the belief that it could happen to them. People often dream of finding love, but it’s pretty hard to find if you’re not looking.”