Jackson Citizen Patriot, in Michigan

Hanson's intimate tour is a thank-you to fans
By Mark Brown
Scripps Howard News Service
September 2,2003


From the start, Hanson had a plan.

The band earned international fame with 1997's "Middle of Nowhere," but the Hanson brothers were also cemented in the public's mind as a boy band playing infectious pop like the hit MMMBop. It got lumped in with other bands that don't have much actual talent.

The year 2000 saw "This Time Around," which surprised both fans and critics with the great leap the Oklahoma band had made in both songwriting and musicianship. The album was to many the first indication that there was far more musical talent here than anyone had suspected.

The band's next album, "Underneath," will come out next year. But the brothers have recorded live-in-the-studio acoustic versions of some of the songs, selling them at their shows.

"It's music for people to get into their hands and absorb until the new record comes out," says Zac Hanson. "We got about 150 fans and brought them in a studio and recorded what was essentially a live record."

And now a short tour is on tap.

"This is really for the hard-core fans who have been around. This is us saying, 'Thank you guys, here's something we've never done.' They're super-intimate venues; some are 500 seats, some are smaller. It's a different way to introduce this new record," says Zac Hanson.

(thanks Kristina)