5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights

Name  JT Woodruff

Best known for  Singing for Hawthorne Heights, talking too much in between songs, and wearing checkerboard everything.

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Current city  Troy, OH

Really want to be in  Tucson, Arizona staring at the mountains filled with Saguaro cacti, sipping a black coffee with my soulmate…NikiFM.

Excited about  I am very excited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of If Only You Were Lonely, with our fans on tour all year. We also have new music already recorded, that we’ve worked  non-stop on during our yearly winter hibernation.  2026 is absolutely packed, and we can’t wait to spread these positive vibes throughout the world.

My current music collection has a lot of  Emo throwback classics, Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Mk.gee, Alex G, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Alice in Chains, MJ Lenderman, The Runarounds. Anything that has heart.

And a little bit of  Singer-songwriter. I am a sucker for lyrics that are personal, whether I can tell that the artist is in personal turmoil or they are helping through my turmoil…I am all in. I need to be invested.

Preferred format  Streaming…I want to be able to listen to music within a seconds notice, no matter where I am.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Let It Be, The Beatles

To me, this is the saddest Beatles album, because you can tell that they were falling apart. You can hear real pain in it, and it just feels so final. The songs themselves are so timeless and classic, that you simply cannot get tired of them. It always makes me feel something, and always leaves me wanting more. I always feel like a poser listing the Beatles, while playing in a pop-punk emo band…but they truly are the greatest pop band of all time. Every songwriter can learn something. They were releasing two legendary albums per year, and went out on top. There will never be another artist like them.

2

Stay What You Are, Saves The Day

This album showed me that you could push the boundaries of pop-punk and hardcore, by looking within yourself, and trying to find out who you are. I remember driving to NYC for the first time, and listening to this album the entire way there. It feels like a band that was struggling with how to deal with success, when you are used to playing rental halls in your hometown. If I was trapped somewhere, I would put this album on, because I know I could get out.

3

Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen

This album means everything to me, because it’s so personal, but sounds so massive. I truly love every song on it, especially “No Surrender.” It’s about being in a band, and hitting the open road by any means necessary. You can’t hold back while listening to it, no matter what kind of struggle you are in. I think it sounds timeless, lyrically it means everything, and it feels like you are being shot out of a cannon. The moods change from song to song, but with Bruce, you are always searching for something…and you usually find it.

4

Clarity, Jimmy Eat World

Any time my world feels too big, or like I’m in a bit of an emotional free fall, Clarity can calm me down.  It’s the perfect blend of sadness, romance, yearning, and discovery.  Every time I listen to it, I can hear something new. These songs are so sonically dense, and so lyrically perfect, that it’s really a hard album to beat. I like to listen to music that moves me, and makes me feel something. This is that album for me. I used to fall asleep to it in 2001, when I would be in the depths of insomnia. It has become a bit of a comfort album for me.

5

Enema of the State, Blink-182

This album is as good as pop-punk gets. It feels like you can be young forever while listening to it. If you are ever in the downward spiral, this album will snap you back. No matter what season you are living in, it’s permanently summer when Blink-182 is on. The energy, clarity, and tempo of each song really just captures what it’s like to yearn for being perpetually 22 years old. You feel like anything can happen, as long as you and your friends are down for it. It’s a perfect blend of fun, humor, mischief, and summer. Those three guys captured magic in the studio.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

Name  JT Woodruff Best known for  Singing for Hawthorne Heights, talking too much in between songs, and wearing checkerboard everything. Current city  Troy, OH Really want to be in  Tucson, Arizona staring at the mountains filled with Saguaro cacti, sipping a black coffee with my soulmate…NikiFM. Excited about  I am very excited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of If Only You […]Liza Lentini{authorlink}https://www.spin.com/feed/SPINMusic News, Album Reviews, Concert Photos, Videos and Morehttps://static.spin.com/files/2023/08/cropped-logo-spin-s-340×340.png