Tulsa pop star talks about blood clot awareness at Capitol
Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is the abnormal clotting of the blood in one or more veins. Its complication, pulmonary embolism, or PE, occurs when a blood clot breaks free from its original site and travels through the heart into the lungs.
According to the Venous Disease Coalition, more than 100,000 Americans die each year after experiencing a pulmonary embolism. Many of those deaths are sudden, because the person has failed to recognize the condition's symptoms, said Gary Raskob, the dean of the OU College of Public Health.
"That's why prevention is critical," Raskob said.
Preventative measures include staying active, not smoking, maintaining a normal body weight, moving legs often and walking frequently if possible. The condition can occur in people of all ages, said Suman Rathbun, a researcher and vascular internist at the OU College of Medicine and the chairwoman of the education committee for the Venous Disease Coalition.
During June, that group, along with the Oklahoma Hospital Association, will provide education materials about the condition free to physicians and patients at 120 acute care hospitals in Oklahoma, said State Health Commissioner Michael Crutcher. Informational material for patients also will be available at state and county health departments.
Hanson said he has twice dealt with the condition, most recently when he had a blood clot removed from his lungs last October following a concert in Dallas. The 27-year-old guitarist said the symptoms included mild numbness and tingling in his right arm — where the clot formed — along with slight discoloration of his skin and pain.
"It is important to be aware of yourself and your physical condition," he said. "Often (the condition) is missed because it seems so insignificant."
His first experience with DVT came in November 2003, he said. Since the second experience, he has had a rib removed to allow for better blood flow through a vein in which the blood was clotting. He also has taken blood thinners.
Hanson said he's fortunate that treatment for the condition has advanced significantly during the past 10 years, allowing him to continue his music career.
"It is something that I will always have to be aware of," he said.
The group Hanson is best known for its 1997 hit "MMMBop."
Hanson's brothers, 22-year-old Zac Hanson and 25-year-old Taylor Hanson, round out the trio. The group is scheduled to travel to South Africa in August with the Oklahoma City-based organization Feed The Children before embarking on an eight-week tour of the U.S. and Canada in support of their fourth studio album, "The Walk."
Zac And Kate Welcome a Healthy Son John Ira Shepherd.
30 May 2008
Zac Hanson and his wife Kate welcomed a son, John Ira Shepherd Hanson, on Tuesday in Tulsa, the musician tells PEOPLE exclusively.
The baby boy, who will go by the name Shepherd, weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 oz. "I am so overjoyed," the proud papa, 22, tells PEOPLE. "There is not an audience or concert that could ever stand up to the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time."
New mom Kate, 24, is equally happy, saying, "Shepherd is the most wonderful gift we could ever receive. We're already enjoying every second of this great adventure."
Though Shepherd is only a day old, he's already got a built-in playgroup: Cousins Ezra, 5, Penelope, 3, and River, 20 months (middle Hanson brother Taylor and his wife Natalie's children) and Everett, 1 (eldest Hanson brother Isaac, and his wife Nikki's son).
But Shepherd won't be the baby of the family for long: Isaac and Nikki will welcome their second child next month.
"It will be really fun to see [the] little ones grow up together," Zac told PEOPLE in November. "I know watching them is going to inspire a lot of music."
Focus on music and message as it takes a more mature tone
By John J. Moser
Of The Morning Call
April 26, 2008
The hottest music act these days is a trio of teen siblings, featuring a high-voiced lead singer.
The Jonas Brothers of New Jersey are topping the charts and selling out concert halls.
But 11 years ago, that same description fit another threesome -- Hanson from Tulsa, Okla.
And Taylor Hanson says he and his brothers Zac and Isaac -- now all married and, when Zac's wife gives birth next month, all fathers -- can tell the Jonases a thing or two about success and how to have a lasting career in music.
It's not idle talk: More than a decade after they were long-haired, tow-headed teens and their hit ''MMMBop'' saturated radio and sold millions, Hanson still is releasing strong, well-received albums, such as last year's rock-and-soul flavored ''The Walk,'' which looked at the personal and social responsibilities that come with maturity.
And they're also still selling out venues, including shows on Friday at Allentown's Crocodile Rock and next Saturday at Lancaster's Chameleon Club.
It's not just love of family and fans that unites the Hansons and Jonases. Both were ''discovered'' by record producer Steve Greenberg.
Taylor, 25, says that he and his brothers have been able to sustain their career because they put music first.
''I think more than anything the reason we're still here is because it was always about the music, and it was always about finding a connection with your fans and holding onto it,'' Taylor says.
''If you're interested in actually being a band for a long time ... every step you make you have to keep in mind, 'Well, what's this mean five years from now -- what does it mean to be a band that wasn't just successful in the '90s and wants to retire a few years later.'
''That's really the way we always looked at it -- [that] we're just young now. We jokingly used to say, 'Think of us as old guys with high voices.' We're not in this for the moment right now; this is just the beginning.
Hanson says he takes it as a compliment that ''people are looking back and drawing comparisons that are the real comparisons -- writing, playing the music and being brothers and being successful at it.'' But he says, ''I think musically it's clearly a very, very different thing.''
Especially now. There's a maturity on ''The Walk,'' the second disc Hanson has released on their own 3CG Records since leaving the Island/Def Jam label amid disputes.
As this piece is being written, the members of the band Hanson - Zak, Taylor and Isaac Hanson - are likely walking the streets of Rochester, N.Y., followed by what is most likely a throng of enthusiastic fans.
This is not a video shoot, or some forced recreation of the hysteria that followed the success of their 1997 wild pop hit "Mmm Bop."
This walk is about inspiration.
It is about the now-indie band being inspired and hoping to inspire others.
Hanson is on the third leg of a tour supporting "The Walk" - their self-released CD of new songs that was partly inspired by a trip to Africa. The physical walk they take with fans before each show, a one mile "Barefoot Walk," is to raise awareness about the AIDS crisis in Africa and to hopefully inspire social change.
"We've done the walk in all situations, rain or shine," said Taylor Hanson, gearing up for the trek through Rochester. "The only way we won't do it is if there is a chance it would put fans through some undue misery."
Pop band Hanson pushes poverty issue ahead of Green Bay showGannett Wisconsin Media April 14, 2008
GREEN BAY — It was the hope of the band Hanson that a chilly one-mile barefoot stroll around downtown Green Bay would have fans walking away with more than just cold feet.
As part of Hanson's "The Walk" tour, willing participants were asked to join the band in a short jaunt sans shoes down Washington Street to make a statement about poverty in Africa — and the thousands who cannot afford a basic necessity like footwear.
Braving Wisconsin's cold weather, middle-child Taylor Hanson said the conditions may deter them a bit, but it's the importance of the cause that keeps them going.
"We've went from literally people's feet being blistered because it was so hot … to snow in Canada," the 25-year-old said. "One way or another we try to push on. We want to encourage people to kind of push past the little hurdles that might be in front of them."
That hurdle Sunday was 40-degree weather with 15 mph winds. Not bad when compared to Hanson's stop in Madison, with rain and snow, the day before.
So far, the band has racked up 52 miles throughout its tour — including the recent mile in Green Bay — but for them, this could be just the beginning.
"To be honest, we could be walking for 20 years," Hanson said. "The hope is to remind people that their mile that they go out and do will be part of a bigger goal."
As part of Hanson's "The Walk" tour, willing participants were asked to join the band in a short jaunt sans shoes down Washington Street to make a statement about poverty in Africa — and the thousands who cannot afford a basic necessity like footwear.
Braving Wisconsin's cold weather, middle-child Taylor Hanson said the conditions may deter them a bit, but it's the importance of the cause that keeps them going. PHOTOS AND STORY HERE:
Music Feature: Recording arts major gets education at South by Southwest Festival
Later that evening I rushed back over to the Austin Convention Center to see Hanson perform at The Bat Bar, a venue created for DirecTV live tapings. Hanson released an album, "The Walk," in 2007, which dominated this performance's set list. The show was astounding: a hip, audience-interactive and flawless performance. Hanson was also celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its first hit song "Mmmbop." I made sure to catch the guys perform again two nights later at La Zona Rosa.
If ever there is a band that SXSW epitomizes it is Hanson. After going through the teen-pop thing a decade ago, Hanson developed into a credible rock act in control of their own destiny.
The business of Hanson today is owned and run by Hanson and the business is thriving.
This was Hanson's first time as part of the official SXSW roster but they told Undercover News that 14 years ago they came to Austin during SXSW and busked on a street corner.
This time it was a lot more high profile.
As testament to their credibility, the SXSW crew added them to a line-up featuring Alabama 3 and Was (Not Was).
This was not an audience of teenagers. The predominately adult audience at La Zona Rosa on Saturday night was there to see Hanson, the rock band and the rock band rocked.
Included in the setlist was a cover of The Police's 'Hole In My Life'.
Unlike a lot of acts from their era, Hanson is the real thing. They actually sing, they actually play, they actually write their own music.
At the La Zona Rosa show they paid tribute to fellow Oklahoma music star Hoyt Axton by performing his 70s hit 'Never Been To Spain'.
This resulted in walking into a Hanson concert, which was in full swing, complete with screaming girls competing for a tossed drumstick. It was surreal to stand among the worshiping fans, who were such a far cry from the typical SXSWer. And yes, my party and I all secretly wished for “Mmmbop.” No such luck. The boys have traded their PG teenybopper sound for a more classic rock one, but still came off as pure and all-American, even when the middle Hanson brother (on vocals and piano) asked how many people had gotten drunk last night and done something they regretted.
Come to think of it, I remember seeing the beaming blond ones at a SXSW after-party about five or so years back, cutting loose and (gasp!) enjoying an adult beverage or two. They were most definitely underage then. Maybe the brothers Hanson really do have a dark side.
This year's SXSW panelists included Lou Reed (who participated in the keynote interview), former Clash singer/guitarist Mick Jones (now in the band Carbon/Silicon) and singer Taylor Hanson (a panelist during a discussion about 16 magazine and the birth of rock journalism).
There's a famous song written by Hoyt Axton, with the lyric "Well, I've never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma." Waylon Jennings sang it. Elvis Presley sang it. Three Dog Night sang it.
Thursday night, Hanson fans heard it, too, when the trio performed the song, "Never Been to Spain," during Austin's monster music festival and conference, South by Southwest.
To many in the music scene, the lyric is symbolic of the changing face of music. To an industry flailing to find stability in a rapidly-changing world, the Tulsa trio is practically a case study in "How to Forge Your Own Path in the Music Biz, 101."
Broadcast live over DirecTV, the show by the sibling trio drews hundreds into the Bat Bar in the Austin Convention Center, ground zero for much of the SXSW festivities.
When the Swedish quintet the Shout Out Louds comes to play Austin's South by Southwest music festival this month, don't expect to find the group feasting on barbecue or lounging by the city's famed Barton Springs pool. The band hopes to play as many as 10 shows over the course of the week, including several day parties in addition to its official festival showcase.
"They don't want free time," says Merge Records' Christina Rentz, who serves as the band's publicist. "They come over here to work."
Take a look at the raw numbers and you'll understand why a band would feel compelled to slog it out in the hot sun, playing afternoon shows to industry veterans: This year's festival, which runs March 12-16, will showcase 1,700 acts in 80 venues, both records.
Roughly half the bands playing the festival are unsigned, but the bulk of the media will undoubtedly gravitate toward the big-name acts. Those confirmed to play include country music doyenne Dolly Parton, London rapper Dizzie Rascal, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Van Morrison, former teen heartthrobs Hanson and the recently reunited L.A. punk band X.
With media outlets ranging from MTV News to NPR blanketing the festival with wall-to-wall coverage, SXSW offers bands the perfect opportunity to spotlight new material. Alternative rock stalwarts REM will make their first-ever SXSW appearance to promote "Accelerate," due April 1 on Warner Bros.
U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington will offer a blast from the '90s past with pop sibling trio Hanson ("MmmBop") signed for an April 18 show in the venue's half-sized U.S. Cellular Coliseum Theater set-up.
Ticket action begins at 10 a.m. Friday (FEB. 29), when seats for the 7:30 p.m. Hanson show go sale at $27.50 for students and $32.50 for adults via the Coliseum box office, including its toll-free number, (866) 891-9992.
Pop/rockers Hanson[ tickets ] will pick up where they left off in December when they launch "The Walk Tour '08" this spring.
The band of brothers will kick off their next round of live performances with a couple of shows at Austin's South by Southwest festival in mid-March. "The Walk Tour" will officially roll out April 9, starting with four shows across Wisconsin and then traveling around the eastern half of the US through May 7. Indie rockers Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, and singer/songwriter Kate Voegele will support the trek. Dates are listed below.
Fan club members will have access to pre-sale tickets at Hanson's website beginning tomorrow (2/26), and the general on-sale starts Friday (2/29).
Last year, Hanson supported its fourth studio set, "The Walk," with a tour that included a one-mile, barefoot walk in each market to help bring attention to poverty and AIDS in Africa. The band also teamed with TOMS Shoes, which, for every pair of shoes sold, donated a pair to a needy child.
In November, the brothers announced they reached their goal of selling 50,000 pairs of TOMS Shoes.
"The idea of partnering with TOMS and taking one mile walks barefoot in every city on the Walk Tour started as a crazy idea that we never thought we could really pull off," Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson said in a joint statement. "Now we have walked 28 miles bare foot, with thousands of you who have joined us. For everyone who has walked and purchased a pair of TOMS, the song 'Great Divide,' or the Great Divide T-Shirt, you should feel proud to know you have taken one step to fight poverty, and stop the cycle of AIDS/HIV."
Charity single "Great Divide," which Hanson recorded in Africa and released in November 2006, benefits African AIDS relief organization HIVSA.
The song appears on "The Walk," which Hanson released on its own 3CG label last July. The set was inspired in part by the brothers' trip to South Africa and Mozambique, where they recruited children from a local orphanage to form a choir. "Great Divide" and a few other tunes from the record are streaming at Hanson's MySpace page.
[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]
March 2008 13, 15 - Austin, TX - South by Southwest
April 2008 9 - LaCrosse, WI - South Hall 11 - Milwaukee, WI - Rave 12 - Madison, WI - Barrymore 13 - Green Bay, WI - Meyer Theater 15 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian 17 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater 18 - Bloomington, IL - US Cellular Coliseum 19 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall 22 - Albany, NY - Northern Lights 23 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground 25 - Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre 26 - Hampton Beach, NH - Casino Ballroom 29 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
May 2008 1 - Falls Church , VA - State Theatre 2 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock 3 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club 5 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel 6 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues 7 - Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
Zac Hanson, drummer of the pop trio Hanson, and his wife, Kate, will be parents for the first time in May. Also expecting are Zac's older brother Isaac Hanson and his wife Nikki. The new baby will join Isaac and Nikki's 10-month-old son Everett. Next month, Hanson is scheduled to play two concerts at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. A tour in support of the band's latest album, The Walk, is set to begin in early April.
Ten minutes into a phone interview, Isaac Hanson had to be stopped.
The eldest of the brothers/bandmates from the late-'90s pop trio Hanson was going on and on, talking passionately about Africa. He and his brothers had just returned a day earlier from their latest humanitarian trek to the continent.
"We come home incredibly inspired each time," Isaac said. He even postulated, "Helping Africa is the mission that can make our generation great, like fighting world wars did with our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations."
That's when he got interrupted: "Would anybody believe this is one of the guys behind 'MMMBop' talking?"
Yes, indeed, the Hanson brothers of Oklahoma have grown up.
All three of the siblings, ages 22 to 27, are family men now. Middle brother Taylor ("the pretty one") has three kids. Even little drummer boy Zac - whose cherubic face and wiseacre smile made it impossible to hate the band a decade ago - is an expectant father.
More startling is the fact that the Brothers H also have a pretty fertile music career.
Hanson's latest album, "The Walk," rose to No. 1 in Internet album sales and No. 4 on the independent albums chart in Billboard. Heck if it's not a pretty good record, too.
An alt-rock station in Chicago, Q101, recently turned heads by spinning the trio's single, "Great Divide," without naming the act. It became the No. 1 requested song.
"We've always believed in our music," Isaac said. "We said from the very beginning that we're in this for the long haul." He laughed. "I'm glad others are starting to see it our way."
by: JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer 11/12/2007 2:46 AM
Show keeps crowd bouncing
Taylor Hanson
Isaac Hanson
The men in the band Chevelle were a little let down Saturday night once they realized that the crowd of girls outside Cain’s Ballroom wasn’t there to see them.
The girls were there — many of them since Friday afternoon — to welcome their hometown heroes at a much-anticipated Sunday show.
The Hanson brothers played to a near-capacity crowd Sunday night, fulfilling a promise they made more than a month ago when Isaac Hanson suffered a medical emergency and the band had to postpone its Oct. 3 homecoming performance.
It was worth the wait.
Chants of “Hanson! Hanson!” erupted before they took the stage, then morphed into deafening cheers as the trio — Zac, Isaac and Taylor — launched into “Great Divide” from the new album for which they named the tour, “The Walk.”
Taylor Hanson, sitting at an ebony Yamaha piano, at times played a keyboard with one hand and the piano with the other and sang while the crowd hopped to the beat. One teenage girl literally jumped out of her shoes while pogo-dancing and singing along to “A Minute Without You.”
Yes, the band is an American original and is known worldwide for its emotion-evoking and powerful live performances and its hooky, bright pop music. But truly, what makes a Hanson concert an unforgettable event is its fans — loyal, polite, positive and, well, positively ecstatic.
Another teen mentioned that she had seen more than 200 shows and could tell what song was coming by which guitar was handed to Isaac Hanson. (At least a dozen guitar changes were made during the show.)
The brothers, with their now-famous immaculate vocal harmonies, even played an acoustic version of their smash hit, “MMMBop,” from their 1997 major-label debut album, “Middle of Nowhere.”
A sea of handheld cameras recorded the band at every moment — glowing screens reminiscent of the lighters flicked en masse back in the “old days,” before fans could literally bootleg every intimate moment at every venue everywhere.
Not that the Hansons seemed to mind.
The concert was being professionally recorded as well, by a large camera attached to a metal arm that swooped over the crowd.
The band also played a cover of the 1978 Police song “Hole in My Life,” and Zac pounded the skins artfully enough that it likely would have given The Police co-founder and drummer Stewart Copeland pause. A song they’ve performed numerous times on tour, the classic hit had the the crowd singing and clapping along.
“It’s great to be back home in Tulsa,” Taylor Hanson said while seated at his piano. The brothers beamed several times, thanking their hometown fans for supporting them and for coming to the show.
“Would you rather be anywhere else than here?” Taylor Hanson exclaimed as the crowd went wild. “Now this is a rock ’n’ roll show!”
by: JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer 11/10/2007 3:41 AM
After a potentially life-threatening medical condition forced the Hansons to postpone the band’s eagerly awaited homecoming show at Cain’s Ballroom in early October, the boys made it back onto the road and will revisit the historic venue Sunday.
The Oct. 3 show was halted after eldest Hanson brother Isaac was taken to a Dallas hospital and diagnosed with pulmonary embolism early that morning — a blood clot that traveled to a lung — and thoracic outlet syndrome or Paget-Schroeder syndrome, a rare condition caused by compression of blood vessels and nerves in the area of the collarbone. causes pain, numbness and loss of grip strength.
“I’m lucky to be here,” Isaac Hanson said as he patted the elastic bandage that covered his right forearm a press conference last month. He has said that he will undergo surgery permanently repair the problem, probably sometime after Christmas.
The Tulsa act has sold out several shows during its current national tour, according to press reports.
The band has worked to raise social awareness of AIDS and poverty Africa after a tour of the country last year. And with maturity and marriage — Taylor, Isaac and Zac are all now wed, and two have children — has come a profound awakening social consciousness.
They’ve partnered with TOMS shoes, and for every pair sold during the tour, a pair will be donated to children in Africa. Also, all proceeds from the band’s first single, “Great Divide,” from their most recent album, “The Walk,” will go to fund AIDS and HIV research and treatment at hospitals in Africa.
“AIDS is killing more people than any world war. It’s wiping out an entire continent,” Isaac Hanson said in a recent interview. “If we don’t take action, it could get a lot worse than we ever imagined. With the Internet, with instant access to anywhere in the world, our generation can do anything.
In 1992, three brothers Zac, Taylor, and Isaac formed a band with their family surname, Hanson. Five years later, they released an album called Middle Of Nowhere which contained "MMMBop", the song that would launch them into stardom. First discovered by Mercury Records at the 1994 Kansas State Fair, Hanson remain a popular attraction today. VOA's Larry London caught up with the brothers when their current tour came to Washington, D.C.
Hanson
Before adding instruments and writing music, Hanson started singing a cappella songs from the '50s.
"Like anybody, you have influences. The first things you hear are the things that get you into music. We heard rock and roll - '50s and '60s music," recalls Jordan 'Taylor' Hanson. "Even songs like 'MMMBop,' which was the song that really broke out there, was really inspired by classic doo-wop and vocal groups. It was the first thing that got us going, got us into music and writing and wanting to produce and play music."
The new CD is called The Walk. Taylor feels there are many different influences that created the songs. It's been 10 years since their last major success.
Jordan 'Taylor' Hanson
"One thing that we've always said about this band is that everybody writes, plays, and sings," says Taylor. "Everybody brings together a different set of influences. Sometimes that's what makes a record so eclectic, honestly."
Fifteen years is a long time to keep a family act going, adds Taylor. "It goes way beyond the sibling thing. A lot of times people will ask, 'How are you in a band with your brothers?' Those people would not be in a group with their brothers or their family.
"I think with us, we were always connected by music and then every once in a while it's like, 'Oh yeah, we are brothers,'" he continues. "We are at Thanksgiving together, and we have the same parents. We hang out in the family environment, but we run a business (record company) together, and we have been a band together. Honestly, I think the music has always been the thing that has kept us connected. It's continually a passion."
Zac 'Walker' Hanson
"There is a rich history of brothers in bands," notes 'Zac' Walker Hanson. "That's because there is something about the way - when you get guys who are from the same genes and they have grown up together. They have learned how to play music together and learned how to play off each other."
Hanson's new single is called "Great Divide." They recorded the song with a children's choir while in Africa.
"The time there really inspired us for the needs that are there, especially with relation to AIDS and HIV," says Taylor. "If you buy that song on iTunes, all the proceeds from the downloads of "Great Divide" go directly to a hospital in South Africa, where their whole focus is mother-to-child transmission of AIDS."
Hanson is not only popular in the U.S. Their shows continue to sell out around the world. "To get back through Internationally is really hard as a band," says Taylor. "We have definitely had a chance to not only get a little glimpse, but to go back over and over to Latin America, China, Japan, all throughout Southeast Asia, Australia. It still blows me away."
Hanson is one band that is using its fame for a good cause. Describing the tour, Taylor says, "I don't want to be too heavy, but one of the things we are doing with our tour that is really cool is to continue our efforts with "Great Divide." We also have partnered with a really awesome company called Tom's Shoes. When you buy a pair of their shoes, they give a pair of shoes to a kid in Africa. We plan to go back to Africa to literally put them on their feet," he adds.
Hanson also hosts barefoot charity walks so that people can feel what its like to not have shoes on your feet. For now Taylor, Zac, and Isaac remain on tour for their new CD, The Walk.
Pop-rockers Hanson[ tickets ], whose tour was temporarily sidelined earlier this month when one of the brother trio's members had to undergo emergency surgery, are back on the road and continue booking new shows.
After wrapping up its current tour leg Nov. 13 in St. Louis, the group will take a short break before returning to the road at the end of November for a stretch of shows that focuses on the Midwest and Canada. Details are listed below.
On Oct. 3, elder band member Isaac Hanson (guitar/vocals) was admitted to Baylor University Medical Center after complaining of chest and shoulder pain following the band's Dallas show the previous night. He subsequently was found to be suffering from venous thoracic outlet syndrome--also known as Paget-Schroeder Syndrome--and had to undergo surgery to correct the problem.
Hanson is supporting its fourth studio set, "The Walk," which surfaced in July. In keeping with the album's title, the band is hosting a one-mile walk in each market along the tour to bring attention to poverty and AIDS in Africa. The location of each day's walk is announced on Hanson's website three hours in advance.
The group has also teamed with TOMS Shoes, which, for every pair of shoes sold, will donate a pair to a child in need. TOMS Shoes will be sold at each tour stop and at the company's website. The goal is to deliver 50,000 pairs at the African shoe drop.
Released on Hanson's own 3CG label, "The Walk" was inspired in part by the brothers' trip to South Africa and Mozambique, where they recruited children from a local orphanage to form a choir. The album hit No. 4 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.
The new set follows 2004's "Underneath," which reached No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 25 on The Billboard 200, making it one of the most successful self-released albums in history, according to Hanson's bio.
The Grammy-nominated Hanson brothers--Taylor, guitarist Isaac and drummer Zac--shot to fame as youngsters 10 years ago with their smash, teeny-bopper hit "MmmBop." http://livedaily.com/news/13092.html
Zac Hanson and his wife Kate welcomed a son, John Ira Shepherd Hanson, on Tuesday in Tulsa, the musician tells PEOPLE exclusively. 
