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."
