RockOm

By Tom Crenshaw, tom@RockOm.net

Dayton, Ohio's Hawthorne Heights knows something about adversity and moving beyond limits and expectations. The band's story reads like a dream come true rock odyssey complete with garnering early darling status on MTV with their song Ohio Is For Lovers and then quickly attaining Gold Record status with their 2004 debut album The Silence In Black And White. Their second album, If Only You Were Lonely, scored Victory Records' biggest ever debut, landing at #3 on the Billboard 200 in 2006. The band appeared on Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel and became magazine cover stars with sales of The Silence In Black And White going Platinum.

Yes, Hawthorne Heights seemingly attained, in a remarkably short period of time, largely everything most bands strive for. But with such heights comes a extraordinarily long way to fall. In 2006 and 2007 the band became entangled in legal struggles with both Victory Records and Wild Justice Records involving suits and counter suits and on November 24, 2007, just one day into their new tour, guitarist and vocalist Casey Calvert died due to an accidental overdose of medications prescribed by his doctor and dentist. Most bands would have succumbed to such entanglements and devastation, and the personal and musical fallout from the legal battle with the labels and Casey's death both severely strained and cast a long shadow on the band's future.  Choosing to move forward was the toughest decision the band would ever have to make.

Surprisingly, the band patched up its relationship with Victory and on August 5, 2008, Hawthorne Heights returned on Victory Records with Fragile Future. Although the sound is still distinctly Hawthorne Heights, the music, as with the band, has understandably evolved. "After spending the last 2 years in a deep dark place, we decided to try to find the bright lights again with Fragile Future," noted singer J.T. Woodruff. "We, as a band, noticed that everyone has tremendous ups and downs, so we wanted this record to communicate that. We chose the title Fragile Future because it sums up the current state of our band, as well as what is going on in the outside world. We must all make good choices to create a better situation in our lives."

Cognizant of the band's very recent ups and downs, particularly with the anniversary of the death of Casey Calvert being just days before our interview (the band, in fact, had just canceled a concert one year to the day of Casey's death) and the tour's end being just days away, I didn't quite know what to expect from the interview. Guitarist Micah Carli greeted me warmly at the backstage bar and we quickly wandered over to a couple of seats by four pool tables. Carli was all smiles and soon put my doubts as to the direction of the interview to rest. I found Carli engaging and congenial - quite the opposite of what one expects from a Platinum selling musician. Soon the backstage bar was filled with all five bands performing on the Never Sleep Again Tour playing pool, joking around and listening in on our conversation.

If Hawthorne Heights has any regrets, any remorse over the past, they aren't allowing it to effect their decisions, their music and the direction they are moving. It's quite a remarkable feat for four guys from Ohio (OK, I'll amend that to read five guys as Casey Calvert is still listed on the band's roster) to achieve. But, you can hear success in their sound - in their music. 2009 very well may be a pinnacle year for Hawthorne Heights.

RockOm: What's this recent touring experience been like for you – and why the name "Never Sleep Again"?

Micah Carli: They're always fun, you get to hang out with some good friends, make new friends with some up-and-coming bands. It's been a little weird this time, just touring.  In the throes of this recession that we are definitely in, you can feel it everywhere.  So, some of the shows haven't been what we expected or what we thought it might be. The kids that are there are there to have a good time and that's great, so hopefully that's enough for us to get through it, but sometimes it's been a real culture shock to see how it's affecting everybody.  The name, Never Sleep Again tour, we did this tour in winter '05 for the first time. There are multiple reasons for that title; the most obvious and literal is the fact that we work all the time. We pretty much take no days off and we play a show every day in a new city, a new town. So, that's a lot of traveling. That initial tour, though, we also kind of themed in Nightmare on Elm Street and there's a little a little saying from that, "One, two, Freddie's coming for you," and the last one is, "Nine, ten, never sleep again."  We used that as an intro before.

RockOm: You guys watch all those movies?

Micah Carli: Oh, yeah! Big horror fans, absolutely.

RockOm: What's been the most print-worthy misadventure you wouldn't dare share with another rag?

Micah Carli: From this tour? Unfortunately, most of these bands, ourselves included - we're pretty "PG." We're not very rockstar-y with egos, we don't get crazy and throw furniture on the ceiling of the hotels or anything like that. One of the most noteworthy things I can think of is the election happened during this tour and was a big topic for all of us.  We're sharing a bus with Emery and Emery is mostly republican and we are mostly democrats.

RockOm: Emery is from South Carolina... (laughs)

Micah Carli: They are – it makes sense. But, we have a good friendship nonetheless.  We also play a great deal of Halo on the bus. Big video game nerds.  So on the day of the elections we did four Emery guys vs. the four Hawthorne Heights guys. We were the blue team, they were the red team and the first one to 70 kills won.  (laughs) So that was fun. Something silly to help enjoy the day.

RockOm: There's so much going on for Hawthorne Heights; the tragic, the ironic.  It's played itself out these past couple of years.  Casey Calvert, Victory Records, The Ne-Yo incident. You guys have emerged with "Fragile Future" which is a departure from your last two records in a lot of ways. What have you guys learned throughout this whole two year ordeal?

Micah Carli: I think it's really made us value the ability to do this.  The first few years of our career were an unbridled, successful streak. We couldn't choose a wrong step basically. Unfortunately the last couple of years we've had quite a few missteps that weren't even our fault. And we were dealing with the music business, too, struggling.  I think once we were able to green-light a new record and write it and record it, we were all just really thankful that we could all still be musicians professionally, put out a record and tour. We literally couldn't tour for a while and we didn't know if we were going to have another record.   After Casey passed away, we didn't even know if we would be a band anymore. I guess it's just the pleasant relief of being able to do what you love again.

RockOm: I want to read an online review here and get your take on it. Speaking of Fragile Future it says, "Thoroughly cathartic effort. There's an obvious element of tragedy, something that the band's music always hinted at but never fully inhabited until now. Given their situation it's quite hard to criticize Hawthorne Heights for playing dark, nocturnal, emo rock songs since few of their contemporaries have such an authentic reason for sounding depressed." Is that a fair assessment of your intentions for Fragile Future? Do you take any umbrage at the reviewer's use of the phrase, "sounding depressed"?  You didn't go into Fragile Future trying to sound depressed, did you?

Micah Carli: Oh, no. Actually, that's kind of half the story. Obviously, there is a somber tone to a lot of the lyrical and musical content on the record. But, we were very careful to concisely say that it was also optimistic. To get through the rough, the hard times you have to be optimistic and focus on the good and not just the bad. It's not just, "every day is worse than the last and there's no point in trying." We really learned something persevering through this hardship. And the little shit just doesn't matter. You gotta just carry on.

RockOm: What's the story behind the lyrics of the song "Rescue Me?"

Micah Carli: We were just in a quagmire of everything going bad – like how much worse could this possibly get, and then another bombshell drops.  We were convinced that if we just hold on, things would get better.

RockOm: RockOm.net is the crossroads for spirituality and music and we recognize the battle that goes on inside of everybody.  The yin, yang. The light and dark.  Some would say that without fully embracing the darkness, we can't experience the other half – the light side.  What's your take on embracing the dark side of music to discover and emerge in the light?
Micah Carli: I would fully agree with that. I've definitely studied some spiritual people and philosophers. I'm 28, I'll be 29 here soon, and I've definitely come to realize that, yeah; one cannot exist without the other. Without the darker times, the lower times, you wouldn't appreciate the good times as well. It's really all cyclical, you can't take them apart.  So, the darker music – it does, it helps us get through the darker times, on to the better times.

RockOm: Regarding the creative process, you're very prolific in your songwriting.  Is there a way or ritual that works better for allowing your creative juices to flow?

Micah Carli: I won't say that there's one specific way, but the one rule that is underlying is trying to remain open-minded to other people.  Dealing with artistic expression, it's a very personal thing and then doing that with other people, trying to create things with other people obviously makes conflicts of interest. "This means more to you than it does to me."  "I don't like that." "It's not a personal attack on you." In Hawthorne Heights, we write songs as a group very democratically. Everyone brings their ideas to [the process], and we try to make the best song we can so that everyone is as happy as they can be. That requires a lot of tolerance, really. Maybe you don't like every part of the song, but you do what's best for the band. And you have to be happy with the music too, so we try to compromise the best we can.

RockOm: How do you know when you're on to a really good song as opposed to something that needs nurturing?

Micah Carli: Sometimes you just feel it. You just hear it. It's instantaneous. The song grabs you and when you play it for people, they just perk up.  It's got that snappy, hit feel to it.  Other times, it is kind of a crap shoot, too. You never really know, you know? You can love a song with all your heart and then it just flops when you release it or when you bring it to A&R or a studio.

RockOm: Does the opposite ever happen – do you ever nurture a song and then three years later it's like, "God, we had that all along?"

Micah Carli: Absolutely, you're right. Sometimes over nurturing can kill a song as well. Sometimes you try to get too complex, try to factor in too many different opinions and you cloud the original intent of the song.

RockOm: What's been the biggest surprise as far as exceeding your expectations with Fragile Future?

Micah Carli: I guess that I'd just have to go back to that we even released the record. The album is selling well, not fantastic, but well considering the climate.

RockOm: It's got a pretty high benchmark, you know?

Micah Carli: Ya, we did very well with the first two records, so compared to those it's not selling well. But, overall we're just ecstatic that we are continuing on and the future does look bright and we're just optimistic about it.

http://www.hawthorneheights.com/

http://www.myspace.com/hawthorneheights

Photography by Kelle Carli

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If you've not done so, make sure you subscribe to the RockOm Podcast. Each week you'll get a new installment which features RockOm news, featured interviews and even backstage access audio.

This week's "backstage access" podcast comes from RockOm's interview with Emery. Hear the behind-the-scenes raw, unedited audio directly from the horse's mouth (so to speak).

This week, RockOm brings you a new Featured Track of the week from Tina Malia along with two new featured articles from bands on opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Although the diversity between The Blind Boys of Alabama and Emery is broad, they are united in an understanding of purpose, intention and the understanding that music unites and transforms lives.

Four time Grammy Award Winners The Blind Boys of Alabama are in the encyclopedia of Americana Music and just last month have been honored with a fifth Grammy nomination. RockOm recently sat down with Ricky McKinnie to ask about the Blind Boys’ new CD, Down In New Orleans, as well as their seven decade-long career singing Jubilee, Gospel, rap, and soul-R&B.

Emery is not your average band from South Carolina, in fact in 2001 they decided to leave the South behind and relocate to Seattle, Washington where they quickly caught on with the local scene and attracted the attention of one of the finest rock and roll labels out there - Tooth and Nail Records. Emery recently wrapped their original deal with Tooth and Nail and have decide to stick around with them for round two. Noted for their melodic, aggressive, and sometimes misunderstood music and lyrics (they are all Christians), Emery has survived almost a decade of what can often sink many musical acts. Emery guitarist and vocalist Matt Carter shares some backstage wisdom with RockOm in "Doing What We're Supposed To: An Interview with Emery."

Finally, this week's Featured Track of the Week comes from the beautiful voice and songwriting of Sebastopol, California's Tina Malia. Check out Tina's spiritually deep track "The Silent Awakening" on the home page from December 16th through the 22nd. Also, be sure to visit her links and pick up a copy of her much-praised newest album.

By Tom Crenshaw, tom@rockom.net

South Carolina rockers Emery packed up and moved to Seattle, WA in 2001, a move that paid off as record labels came calling shortly thereafter. Emery decided to sign with Tooth & Nail Records, releasing their label debut, The Weak's End, in 2004. They then released their second full-length album, The Question, in 2006, and followed with I’m Only A Man, in 2007. Emery's latest recorded effort, While Broken Hearts Prevail, was released in October, 2008. The EP includes new material as well as songs that has previously been in the band’s repertoire but never recorded. Singer/Bassist Toby Morrell talks of the impetus for the EP: “We worked so hard on our last album and put so much time into it that when we wrote this [album], we just made it fun and easy and the songs reflect that.”

I caught up with Emery near the end of their “Never Sleep Again” tour in December 2008. The interview was hastily arranged between RockOm and Tooth and Nail Records upon hearing that Emery and the tour would be stopping at RockOm’s South Carolina Lowcountry home base. It’s not often we get the opportunity to feature local bands made famous, especially along the rock and roll lines for which Emery is known. Their sound is melodic, aggressive, passionate and sometimes misunderstood by those unfamiliar with the band and their sound. Some might misconstrue the “screaming” in many of their songs and link Emery with something dark, anti-social and incongruous to the fact that the members of the band are Christians. Yet everything I’d heard about the guys in Emery was positive - not the usual stuff I associate from my personal touring days. I was made to feel at ease when I met the guys and sitting down backstage with Matt Carter for the interview was unlike any past experience. Matt is a fellow South Carolinian who hasn’t lost his way and can easily explain that he and the band are all about the music, stepping out in a way that other bands might find uncomfortable, and being open minded enough to look and listen beyond outward appearances.

RockOm: This tour is about to wrap. How has the experience been and how does it feel to be back in your home state of South Carolina?

Matt Carter: It’s really cool to end the tour here. We were up in Asheville, Charlotte and Myrtle Beach. There’s tons of people that we know, that we don’t see all the time that get to come out and see some of the shows here at the end. Most groups don’t do near this many shows in these small parts of South Carolina. We’re really excited to do them.

RockOm: Your latest CD, Broken Hearts Prevail debuted in October of this year (2008) on Tooth & Nail Records. Did you do any writing for that in South Carolina?

Matt Carter: We did. We wrote and recorded it all in a beach house in Folly Beach, South Carolina. It’s unusual, but last winter we knew we could get a vacation house for cheap, so we went there and took our equipment and got our vacation house for a month on the beach. We set up our recording equipment in the room and spent just a little bit over a month and did it all right there.

RockOm: Your 2003 debut The Weak’s End was self-financed and then you jumped in with Tooth and Nail Records and released The Weak’s End again in 2004. Tooth and Nail has been pretty good to you. Do you see yourselves sticking around?

Matt Carter: Yeah. We finished our first record deal with Tooth and Nail and then talked to a bunch of other people about other stuff, explored our options and then decided we were going to stay. We’re redoing our deal now for the future to do some more records there. We’ve been really happy. We know that Tooth and Nail supports us well, cares about us and have done a good job. We want to continue that instead of trying to make something up that may or may not work. We’re secure about staying with Tooth and Nail and what we’re getting into. Our fans will know where we are. It’s easier and makes the most sense.

RockOm: Have you guys been approached by anyone else about signing?

Matt Carter: We talked with some other labels. All things considered, we’ve already been through that. We’re not talking with anyone anymore.

RockOm: The Vans Warped Tour, the Nintendo Tour... what did you learn about yourselves from those experiences?

Matt Carter: (Pause) Warped tours are a different kind of tour than any other because it all happens in the day time. It’s early. You might be playing at noon, 12:30 or 1:00 in the afternoon. You’re in a parking lot in the heat of the summer. It’s totally different than being in nightclubs. It’s a big deal. We did that tour two times, all the way through. They call it “Punk Rock Summer Camp,” but I don’t know if it’s like that. I think the main thing we learned as long as we have been touring is that we’re probably a little bit different than other bands; (we're) more mature. Maybe that’s a nicer way of saying old, I guess. (laughs) We're maybe a little bit more mature than the other bands, but I feel like we’re still young and can cut up, have fun and act young at least. We like getting up early and sit and have coffee whereas other bands may or may not.

RockOm: Do you guys ever get tired of answering the same questions over and over again about your Christianity?

Matt Carter: We don’t get the same questions over and over. Very rarely do we get many questions about it specifically. Some people ask, “Well are you a Christian band?” It depends on the interview. The only [interviews] that get frustrating sometimes are Christian publications themselves that basically are looking for you to say whatever it is they’re looking for you [as a Christian Band] to say. That’s the hardest part. I certainly don’t mind being asked about it, but sometimes people are on a one track thing and trying to get the artists to bolster their opinion about something. RockOm may or may not want to do that. That’s not the point.

RockOm: No, that’s not our point. It’s difficult sometimes to explain spiritual beliefs and most artists don’t even want to go there. Words can and often do fail us. Intention might be a better word to use or ponder here. What are your intentions with your music? What would you call inspiration, that lyric or melody line or riff that comes to you - that spark of creativity? Does it have a name?

Matt Carter: First and fundamentally we attribute all things to God and Jesus Christ as far as our source and inspiration for anything we do, and that certainly includes music. While I think there’s a purpose in the time and place that you’re born I think that the place you might end up working, the people you are around, and the things that you are doing are all purposed. It feels like that more while writing music than anything else. It feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing and not only that, sometimes it feels more like discovering a song than writing a song. That’s a good example of [purpose]. I don’t feel like God gives us lyrics or the chords on a chart, but when you’re coming up with something it just seems right. That doesn’t mean that we’re supernaturally getting material or anything like that. I believe the same things about Marilyn Mansion or anyone else; I believe that all music belongs to God and is ultimately from him, and to be used for him. I think we have a grip on that. It maybe keeps your ego in check, that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, not that we’re so clever and creative.

RockOm: Speaking of Marilyn Mansion, what can you tell us about the dance between the light and the dark? Can you have the good without the bad? Do you have to go through the bad first to appreciate the good?

Matt Carter: Well, yes. I think so. I don’t know if you necessarily have to go through or make bad decisions to eventually make good ones, or know that they are good. Without evil there wouldn’t be good, I suppose. I guess the way that I define good and evil is that God, and all that comes from him and is honoring that, is good. Anything other than that is evil. I think the fact that they’re called “good” and “evil” is just because of that fact. I don’t necessarily think performing certain behaviors is bad and that’s evil.  Good is for God and evil is the opposite. That’s how they get the term and good and bad in the first place. Everything else is just relative, I guess.

RockOm: What are your thoughts on music bringing people together, music cutting through the social, cultural, and spiritual barriers? Can music bypass all that stuff we get trapped in and that divides us up and bring us all closer to one realization?

Matt Carter: I think that music can certainly bring people together. I’m not against any certain kind of music. I mentioned Marilyn Mansion because people think he’s so bad. But we love him. We really do. We like his music. I like Iron Maiden and tons of bands people would say are bad or have some lyrics that are bad. People used to think that sounds that are heavy or dark are bad. Of course, that’s just silliness. The thing that people try and do while talking to others and while expressing spiritual views is they're trying to convince someone, “If you really think about it we’re alike,” or trying to find common bonds. Almost always that fails and has the opposite effect because you’re trying to make somebody be something. When you really have unity with others it’s because you realize you have things in common and [that realization] is very seldom from words. It may be from something that you realize through music and knowing that you like the same music; it affects you the same way. You may have different opinions as to why that is or what it is that’s affecting you. But, that’s a good start. Certainly for us it’s the only way we’re connected to most people we know. It’s our business and what we do. It’s not because of the words we say or how we act. The only reason I’m talking with you right now is our music and that’s a step in the right direction for anyone.

RockOm: So you feel like you’re on your purpose and fulfilling what you’re supposed to be doing.

Matt Carter: Right.

RockOm: You guys have degrees in education, music, and psychology. Most rock stars don’t do the degree thing. You seem firmly rooted (of course, you are from SC) and have probably been exposed to all the wild ways of the road. What grounds you, what keeps you focused, besides your religious and spiritual beliefs? What enables you to churn out successful albums and tours, year after year?

Matt Carter: A lot of it is just doing what’s in front of you. You start out with this vision of being in a band and of making it. We completed our educations first and then decided that maybe we could be in a band and do it. We just tried. It really wasn’t all part of the plan. At some point we became very visionary. Like any organization or group there’s a point of inspiration, “I wonder if we can do this? Setting goals, setting the principles.” We said we’d be this kind of band and do this and make ourselves this and this and this. It was funny, I was looking through the stuff we used to write - emails we would send to people to try and get gigs. It sounded silly, but all the things we said back then about what we’re about- we’re still the same. We’re exactly the same as when we started.

There’s a point in time of inspiration, planning and vision. After that, it started and caught on and we are lucky and blessed enough to be able to continue. At some point you have people come to you with offers, and tours, mangers and labels. And then you get put into the system that goes. From that point on it’s been just saying “yes” to this and “no” to that, and doing everything the best we can. That’s one of the things we [originally] set as a principle. We’re hard-working and we’re going to do the best we can. There’s really no way to go back on that now. It’s our identity. We work hard and make sure we take care of business first. It’s one of our values we’ve had from the beginning. It would almost be too hard to not do it. The group would fall apart before anyone would be allowed to be lazy or put their priorities in the wrong place. It just couldn’t happen, for us.

RockOm: Do you guys say yes more than no?

Matt Carter: As far as taking tours and gigs, we say yes - probably too much. It’s hard. When someone asks us to come perform, maybe it is or is not a lot of money. Is it better than sitting at home? What’s going to help us more, doing something or not doing something? Honestly, sometimes not doing something will help you more, but we learned that the hard way. It’s not because we want to play every night either. I like being home and being off, but it seems like, wow, if we do more work won’t there be more benefit in the long run? That’s the attitude we take, usually.

RockOm: What should the parents and grandparents of some the younger ones attending your concerts and listening to your music know about Emery? What can you say to them to get past the screaming and the stuff they can’t understand?

Matt Carter: The most important thing about the music is that it should speak for itself. I don’t know of anything to say other than what our music sounds like.

RockOm: Maybe say, listen to the music? Don’t just turn it on, listen to it.

Matt Carter: Yeah- of course, listen to the music. It doesn’t matter what you call it. I can’t figure out what you should call it. Someone asked the other day if it was rock and I said, yeah, its rock and roll. And then she asked if it was the same as Hawthorne Heights? And I replied, yes, like that. And she said, that’s not rock. I guess not. In that sense AC/DC is a rock band and we are NOT one then? I don’t know what else to say. You have to listen to it. I don’t care at all if there’s someone that doesn’t like our music. That’s totally fine. That’s OK. I don’t think you have to be a certain demographic or like a certain genre to like our music. I know my mom likes it. The reason she likes it is not because I’m her son; that’s why she listened to it- to find out if she liked it. But since she’s my mom, her and her friends listen and give it a chance because it’s me. Genuinely, I believe they like it. They sing along to it and listen to it in their car when no one’s watching. I don’t think it matters who you are. There's probably a lot of music I would like if I were to listen to it. There are so many people that say that they don’t like country [music.] Maybe you would if you listened to it. It’s just stereotyping if anything. It’s probably not a good thing.

RockOm: I hear you guys are heading to Australia in 2009. Tell us what that’s all about?

Matt Carter: We’ve been to Australia a couple of times and we’ve been with a couple of bands and played like we do here, some bigger club shows. This time we get to go and we’re playing the Soundwave Festival, a giant thing. They say it’s it like the Warped tour. There’s 50 bands that we know - big bands, small bands we know, that are going to be touring with us. It’s huge. Nine Inch Nails and Alice and Chains are playing along with bands more like our type of music. Six stages in different cities in Australia. We’ll all fly together and have the same gear together. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we’re excited about touring that way.

RockOm: What do you think the future’s going to hold for you guys? How big do you think Emery’s going to be and does that really matter?

Matt Carter: In one sense it doesn’t matter at all, but at the same time I would love to be as big as we can. Of course it matters, because this is what I’m trying to do. It’s my job. At the same time, you can’t measure it just by that. Unfortunately, it’s the easiest way to gauge how well you’re doing as an individual, “I sold a lot of records; a lot of people came to the shows.” Even though that’s not the most important thing, it’s the easiest thing that’s tangible to measure, your personal or group’s growth. I would not be unhappy if we never got any bigger. I would not be dissatisfied. I think that would be the wrong attitude.

If there’s anything I can do to make us get bigger, I will do it. I would also like that. That’s what I would prefer. It would be more fun, cooler, to reach more people. I don’t know if it’s just greed built into humans, but more seems like it would be better. Really, it’s probably not.

http://www.emerymusic.com/

http://www.emerymusic.com/palebird/

http://www.myspace.com/emery

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Today RockOm is bringing a huge dumptruck load of new content for you to check out!

To kick things off, we have two new featured articles including Part II to last month's Zakir Hussain interview as well as a new piece called Social Change and the Power of Music (w/ Ram Dass, Odetta and Christine Stevens).

Secondly, this week's Track of the Week and podcast are with singer/musician Larkin Grimm. Larkin's dark and sensual music breaks the genre mold and her life story (which includes a religious cult, an Ivy League school, psychedelics and spiritual experiences) is quite unique and fascinating. Check out her track "Ride That Cyclone" on the homepage this week as well as our 20-minute interview on the most recent RockOm podcast episode.

Lastly, the week ahead is going to be an intense one here at RockOm. You can come along for the wild ride and join us as we prep in-depth features and interview a dizzying array of stellar musicians and artists in the South Carolina / Georgia area. This week’s feast includes Platinum-selling emo rockers Hawthorne Heights, Vans Warped Tour alum and Fellow South Carolinian-to-West Coast transplants Emery and four-time Grammy-Award winners, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Both Hawthorne Heights and Emery will be appearing in Hilton Head Island, SC at The Shoreline Ballroom this week. The Blind Boys of Alabama will be appearing at Café Loco on Tybee Island, GA. Originally, The Blind Boys Of Alabama were scheduled to appear at The Shoreline Ballroom, but the show has been rescheduled courtesy of the great folks at Café Loco, as promoter Robert Marzbanian of Lighthouse Entertainment, the promoter for the Shoreline Ballroom was recently hospitalized and is being treated for cancer. The entire RockOm team sends our best wishes for healing to Robert, his family and the entire Shoreline Ballroom Family.

Hawthorne Heights headlines the Never Sleep Again Tour of 2008 performing new cuts off their latest CD entitled Fragile Future on Victory Records. No stranger to the top of the Billboard’s charts and accustomed to MTV, VH1, and Fuse rotation as well as Platinum and Gold selling brackets of the record industry, Hawthorne Heights is pushing past, but by no means forgetting the untimely death of guitarist/ vocalist Casey Calvert just over a year ago. Fragile Future marks a new chapter in the band's story and there is, no doubt, much more to be written in the annals for the now quartet as the tracks from Fragile Future point toward bigger and more meaningful avenues waiting. Catch Hawthorne Heights on December 4th at The Shoreline Ballroom on Hilton Head Island, SC or at one of their other tour dates.

South Carolina’s own Emery got their start in the small up-state town of Rock Hill but in 2001 decided the West Coast was where they were destined to really kick it in to high gear and now call Seattle home. These guys have four albums out on Tooth & Nail records including their latest EP While Broken Hearts Prevail and are a part of the 2008 Never Sleep Again Tour featuring Hawthorne Heights, Tickle Me Pink, The Mile After and The Color Fred. Emery will be joining Hawthorne Heights on December 4 at The Shoreline Ballroom, Hilton Head Island, SC.  For other tour dates, click here.

Since 1939 The Blind Boys of Alabama have been serving audiences near and far with their blend of Gospel music and have garnered four Grammy Awards along the way. Several members have come and gone since 1939 but the music is still the same crowd-pleasing, spirit moving mix they’ve perfected throughout their years of performing. The Blind Boys of Alabama have collaborated with a diverse assortment of artists including Ben Harper, Aaron Neville and Mavis Staples. They’ve even joined Tom Petty and Peter Gabriel on tour. Catch them live December 5th at at Cafe Loco on Tybee Island, GA., or at one of their other dates.

Watch for these featured interviews in December at RockOm.net.