“This organization just struck me as absolutely brilliant — it’s a win win right out of the gate.”

Jonny Hawkins of Nothing More joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (July 22) to discuss why his band got involved with K9s For Warriors. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“A lot of organizations you donate money to, whether it’s cancer research or even mental health type of things, it’s just really ambiguous,” Hawkins explained to host Chuck Armstrong.

“With [K9s For Warriors], it’s a clear, proven solution. All those things just check the boxes for me. I got more interested and learned more and it’s been a cool journey so far.”

Joining in on the conversation was Wyatt Haynes, the Chief Business Officer for K9s For Warriors. Haynes spent some time diving into the organization.

“K9s For Warriors started back in 2011, out of a garage by a mom who had nothing but love for her son who was shipped off to Iraq, did a couple of tours and came back and wasn’t the same,” Haynes said.

“He happened to be a dog trainer and she noticed when he was around his dogs that he was a totally different person and that’s where the idea originated from — an organization where we could provide service dogs to veterans suffering from PTSD … It started out of a garage and she had this idea and here we are.”

Nothing More have used the new version of their song, “Freefall,” featuring Chris Daughtry, to help raise awareness for this organization.

“The song just kind of hit the nail on the head,” Hawkins shared.

“There is a free fall type of feeling when you’re in these times in your life where you feel like the ground has dropped beneath you and something dramatic or really important shifted in your life and you’re trying to figure it out in what feels like a free fall.”

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Hawkins said it was an obvious pairing given the heart of the song and the work of K9s For Warriors. And he couldn’t be happier that Daughtry joined Nothing More for the new version of the song.

“We had a few people in mind when we were first trying to brainstorm who to bring in and make this as big as possible,” he said.

“And Chris was at the top of that list and the fact that he said yes is awesome. It all worked out perfect.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Jonny Hawkins joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, July 22; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.

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