Hawthorne Heights is a band formed in Dayton, Ohio in June of 2001. The band was originally known as A Day in the Life but changed its name as its music and lineup also changed.

History

Originally known as A Day in the Life, after one album (Nine Reasons to Say Goodbye), an EP, Paper Chromatography (which was later re-released as part of the compilation From Ohio With Love), and significant line-up changes, the band changed its name to Hawthorne Heights. On the DVD portion of The Silence in Black and White, drummer Eron Bucciarelli states that the band took their current name from the author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Their first album The Silence in Black and White, was released in 2004. The album was slow to build sales at first; however, soon the video for the song "Ohio Is for Lovers" began getting airplay on MTV, and the band enjoyed breakout success at radio as well as a growing nationwide fan base, and the album became Victory Records' highest selling debut. The Silence in Black and White peaked at number 56 on the Billboard charts.

When their second album If Only You Were Lonely was released on Feb 28, 2006, it debuted at number 3 on the Billboard charts, powered by the lead single "Saying Sorry" which has received regular airplay on MTV, VH1 and Fuse. The band performed on the 2006 Nintendo Fusion Tour.

Incident with Ne-Yo

In February of 2006, as the band was readying the release of If Only You Were Lonely, Victory Records issued two statements to fans through the band's mailing lists as well as their MySpace page, stating that "ROCK music needs your support"^[6] and that "the #1 slot that belongs to us." They also pleaded with fans to go into chain stores and make sure Hawthorne Heights CDs are in stock and to sabotage the sales count of Ne-Yo's record In My Own Words, which was being released the same day. The statement said:

As for Ne-Yo, the name of the game is to decrease the chances of a sale here. If you were to pick up handful of Ne-Yo CDs, as if you were about to buy them, but then changed your mind and didn't bother to put them back in the same place, that would work. Even though this record will be heavily stocked and you might not be able to move all the stock, just relocating a handful creates issues: Even though the store will appear to be out of stock, the computer will see it as in stock and not re-order the title once it sells down and then Ne-Yo will lose a few sales later in the week."^[7]

They ended their rallying cry with by quoting Winston Churchill: "Victory at all costs, Victory in spite of all terror, Victory however long and hard the road may be; for without Victory, there is no survival."^[8] Later, group members claimed that the statements were issued by their record label, Victory Records, without their consent.^[9] On August 7, 2006, the band announced they would be leaving Victory Records, and sued the label for breach of contract, copyright and trademark infringement, fraud and abuse.^[10] Victory Records then countersued for breach of contract and libel in September 2006.^[11] In October 2006, a Chicago judge dismissed two of the three main claims in the band's suit, ruling that the trademark and copyright violation allegations were unsound.^[12] On March 5, 2007 a federal judge in Chicago ruled that Victory Records does not hold exclusive rights for the band's recording services and that the band can record for any label. Specifically, the Judge stated: "The agreement contains no exclusivity provision, nor does any of its language appear to prevent [the band] from recording elsewhere during the life of the agreement".^[13] The judge later reaffirmed this ruling on May 17, 2007, stating that Hawthorne Heights is still contractually bound to deliver two albums to Victory, but may record albums which are released elsewhere.^[14]

Wild Justice Records lawsuit

On October 16, 2007, Wild Justice Records sued Hawthorne Heights for breach of a verbal contract, stemming from a dispute over the management company's share of the band's revenues.^[15]

Currently

The band has written 21 songs for their upcoming third album, and is "eager to start recording."^[10] However, a third CD cannot be released until their legal issues are taken care of.

Hawthorne Heights recently released a demo for their new song "Come Back Home" on their MySpace page. It is one of the fourteen tracks that made it on to the new album. The album will be produced by Howard Benson. A second song was released on their Myspace, a cover of Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet With Butterfly Wings". Along with the song "Come Back Home," two other new songs, "Rescue Me" and "The End Of The Underground," are both rumored to be on their new album, as the band is playing the latter two on their current tour.

While the song "Come Back Home" is a lighter song in contrast to previous works, the band also briefly added umbrellas to their logo to help promote the release of their custom Mountain Dew bottles, which depict the same artwork. On their current tour, they have reverted back to the double H (this time, with a bulls-eye between the two).

Death of Casey Calvert

While touring in Washington, D.C., guitarist Casey Calvert was found dead on the band's tour bus on November 24, 2007. The band had kicked off their U.S. tour just the day before in Detroit, Michigan. ^[16][17] While the exact cause of death remains unknown at this point, it had initially been reported that Calvert used an inhaler for acute asthma and, pending official toxicology results, this condition could have caused his death.^[18][19] The official statement issued by the band says that Calvert died in his sleep and his body was discovered before the band was to do a sound check prior to a show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Tribute albums

• Arteries Untold: The String Quartet Tribute to Hawthorne Heights

Videography

• This Is Who We Are (DVD)

References

External links

• Hawthorne Heights official site
• Hawthorne Heights Official Fan Community Site
• Official MySpace
• Interview: Eron Bucciarelli of Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely