“The song was somewhat of an anomaly in that I wrote it in a different environment than I’m used to, and the words you hear are the first ones that came out of my mouth,” says Madeline Hawthorne about her latest single, “Where Did I Go Wrong.” “I wrote it up in my bedroom while we were having our house re-sided. There were men climbing the walls and a constant banging was present in the house. I needed to write, so I just closed my curtains and did my best to drown out all the noise.”
Born in New England to a father who studied conducting at Berklee College of Music and a mother trained as a soprano soloist, Hawthorne grew up surrounded by music, picking up a guitar at 16. She found her eventual husband in Bozeman, Mont., where she started a band called the Hawthorne Roots that couldn’t outlast the pandemic. She’s been solo ever since, opening for the likes of Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson and Nathaniel Rateliff and making a name for herself with her rugged twang and literate storytelling.
Hawthorne had limited break from touring when she sat down to write “Where Did I Go Wrong,” a searing ballad and one of 11 tracks on her self-released Tales From Late Nights & Long Drives. Produced by Ryan Hadlock (Zach Ryan, Vance Joy), the album will be released June 14.
“Incredibly, this song just came out,” she says. “Although I’m happily married, I’d lie if I told you this career path doesn’t challenge even the strongest of relationships. I never want to be that woman sitting alone at a bar wondering where she went wrong, so it’s a good reminder to nurture a loving relationship. I’m reminded every time I sing the words.”
We’re proud to premiere ‘Where Did I Go Wrong.”
—Hobart Rowland
