"It's definitely difficult to write a song about your best friend passing away," singer JT Woodruff said in an interview with LiveDaily from his Cincinnati home. "[But] it's definitely good therapy. It's good to focus on the good times that you had with somebody. That's kind of what our songs are about. We didn't want them to be downers at all. We wanted them to be uplifting, more about the positives of the situation that you can bring away, not the negatives."

To ease the recording process, the band recruited close friend Jeff Schneeweis (Number One Gun) and worked on the album in a Chico, CA, studio.

"After all the trouble and hardship we'd gone through, we didn't want to get into the studio with a producer we were going to butt heads with the whole time," Woodruff explained. "It was important for us to be with somebody that was real laid back, real easy going and had a vision of the songs already. He knew Casey personally and he helped us through the situation.

"We just had a good time when we were recording. We didn't want it to be a bum-out or a drag."

On the flip side, the band decided not to get personal with the name of the album. Instead it reflects the state of the US at the time of the recording.

"We don't really know what's going on in our country right now," he said. "Hopefully, over this next election, we'll make the right decision. Hopefully, things will change for the better for everybody. We wanted something that was a little more global.

"That title is very important to our band as well. We've been going through some hard times recently. We just kind of thought, instead of just thinking of ourselves and how fragile our future is, we'd rather think about it on more of a global level."

However, Woodruff added, he does not consider Hawthorne Heights as a band to be political.

"I wouldn't say political," Woodruff said. "I would say we're all definitely voters. We are into politics, but it doesn't really come through in our music very much. That was something we wanted to change with an album title. We're excited [that], hopefully, our country will get some change. It's not going to be George Bush, so that's definitely all that matters either way."

TOUR DATES

October 2008
17 - St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre
18 - Orlando, FL - Club Firestone
19 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
20 - Tallahassee, FL - Floyd's Music Store
21 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
22 - Hattiesburg, MS - The Bottling Co.
23 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
24 - Little Rock, AR - The Village
25 - Frisco, TX - Pizza Hut Park (KDGE 102.1 EdgeFest)
27 - Tulsa, OK - The Otherside
28 - Springfield, MO - The Outland Ballroom
30 - Seattle, WA - Radio Show
31 - Spokane, WA - Radio Show

November 2008
1 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
3 - Scottsdale, AZ - Martini Ranch
5 - San Diego, CA - SOMA San Diego
6 - Bakersfield, CA - The Dome
7 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
8 - West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues
9 - San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom at Regency Center
10 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
11 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Concert House
13 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
15 - Des Moines, IA - People's Court
16 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
17 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre
18 - Chicago, IL - Metro/Smart Bar
19 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom
20 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
21 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theatre
23 - Hartford, CT - Webster Theatre
24 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
25 - New York, NY - Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
26 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance Entertainment Complex
28 - Towson, MD - Recher Theatre
29 - Richmond, VA - The National
30 - Norfolk, VA - NorVa