Singer/songwriter KP Hawthorn will be releasing her solo debut, Til The Glitter End, on September 12, 2025, via Mule Kick Records. A founding member of The HawtThorns and CALICO the band, Hawthorn works with the sensibilities of her West Coast roots and Nashville experience on her solo record. The record presents a reimagining of some of her fan-favorite past creations, and expands on Americana in Dream Pop and Classic Rock.
Today, we’re very pleased to premier the first track from the new album, “Fool’s Gold”, here on Wildfire Music + News. It arrives widely this Friday, July 18th, 2025.
The title of the song and the title of Hawthorn’s new album have an interesting sense of connection, between things that are shiny, glittery, but have a different side hidden away. As the first single from the album, “Fool’s Gold” paints that opening picture, both revealing a definitely appealing shiny surface to a life in music, and then sharing an inside view of the struggles and difficulties that are part of the terrain. “Fool’s Gold” gives a wide sweep of the romance and appeal of chasing your dreams in life, something that almost anyone would encourage a friend or loved on to do, but it also suggests that a touring life can become hollow if you don’t have a personal foundation to hold onto. More specifically, it highlights the role people in your life who let you stay human, grow, and evolve.
It’s special that Hawthorn feels comfortable enough as a songwriter and a performer to share this vantage with audiences, and also impactful that the message is actually universal. Anyone might need to ask themselves if they are putting their work goals, or even their creative dreams, above the significant relationships in their lives that keep them grounded. In fact, that seems more and more of a pressing question these days.
While Hawthorn delivers warm vocals that are both gentle and engaging, creating a meditative atmosphere, her voice is also a guiding reference point in the song, musically, with instrumentation subtly built around it. The song definitely has a dreamy quality, and its one that takes you visually through Hawthorn’s life, but its rhythms also easily suggest a road song, one reflecting the pace of travel over a long period of time. The subtleties and the brightness of the music also conjure that broad sweep of time observed through memory. Even leaving room for a soulful electric guitar suggests the role that emotion plays in making life decisions, prioritizing the heart at least equally alongside the head.
Something that’s particularly meaningful about “Fool’s Gold” is that it doesn’t present an “either/or” mentality, saying that a career is only possible at the expense of a relationship or vice versa, but sketches out a possibility for balance when we pursue core values, like relatedness.
She shares about the track:
I began writing Fool’s Gold after an encounter with a friend who was going to have to miss a grand reunion with friends because he was going to be on tour. It made me think of all we give up to have a life of music while also being able to see some pretty incredible sights along the way – it is definitely a bittersweet lifestyle at times. I have learned to treasure the time at home just as much as the time spent on the road.
Til The Glitter End was Produced by KP Hawthorn and Steve Berns at Fitting Room Studio in Nashville, and mastered by Paul Blakemore, and features collaborators Johnny Hawthorn (electric guitar, background vocals), Ted Pecchio (upright bass), Chris Benelli (drums/ percussion), and guest appearances from violinist Sav Madigan (“Going To California”) and Rosie Flores (“High Road”). KP Hawthorn contributes vocals, acoustic guitar, keys, mandolin, and percussion.
While KP has spent years collaborating and co-leading bands, choosing to record Til The Glitter End is about “claiming space.”
Hawthorn explains:
This is my ninth full-length recording, but my first as KP Hawthorn. For once, I didn’t have to mold or compromise. I followed my instincts, my taste, my voice.
She adds about the recording process:
This record was built with intention—upright bass instead of electric, minimal cymbals, a lot of warmth and space. Johnny brought magic on guitar. Chris gave us a vibe that was both raw and restrained. Sav added elegance. And Steve Berns, he’s been a champion of mine for years. I called him one Sunday with the idea, and he said, ‘Come over.’ That’s how it started.
