Originally written about a friend who died of cancer, Inspection 12’s song “Elegy” took on a new meaning last spring, said guitarist Pete Mosely.

That’s when a car accident claimed the life of one of the band’s founding members – only months before “In Recovery,” the band’s first official album, was released.

But while they lost a friend, the band members haven’t lost their love of music.

So they’re back on the road and headed for Ames.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based punk band, known to their fans as I-12, is co-headlining a concert with local rockers Keepers of the Carpet. The show starts at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Maintenance Shop.

Inspection 12 – named after an underwear inspector on the television show “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” – is a quartet of 21-year-old Jacksonville natives.

There’s Mosely, guitar, keyboard and vocals; Dan McLintock, bass and vocals; James Trimble, guitar and vocals, and the band’s newest addition, Tim Grisnik, drums.

The band’s original drummer was Scott Shad, who founded the band with McLintock in 1994, when the two were 12 and 14, respectively.

Shad died in March 2001.

“The weirdest thing that ever happened was losing someone so close,” Mosely said.

The band needed a new drummer but finding a replacement was no easy task, Mosely said.

First of all, Shad was highly talented, he said.

“I’ve never seen a drummer who really had a musical outlook on things . most of them just keep the beat.”

To replace Shad, the band wanted someone they were friends with, not just a good drummer, he said.

“We’re not just a band of guys who just play instruments together,” Mosely said. “It’s a brotherhood.”

The band had known Grisnik throughout high school, he said. They decided to give him a shot.

Mosely drove to Gainesville, Fla. – where Grisnik was in school – and the two played through “In Recovery” and “nailed the entire album,” Mosely said.

“I was completely blown away,” he said. “He was pretty damn near close to flawless.”

Now Grisnik “is right in there with us, writing” Mosely said. “It’s going great.”

So things are looking up for the guys, who have maintained a sense of humor through it all.

Touring “is the first serious thing we’ve done since the record came out,” Mosely said. “You got to realize that you have a record out there, but no one really knows about it.”

The band is working on getting people to know about it with “a pretty hectic tour schedule” of 56 dates in the Midwest and East Coast, he said.

In April, I-12 will be going to Europe and then probably back to the West Coast.

“We’re going to be pretty busy through August,” he said.

Mosely is “really excited” to bring their sound to Ames, he said.

“You play in New York City, no one knows what’s going on,” Mosely said. “But college towns are really cool.”