2013-05-23T11:38:51-04:00 Taylor Hanson http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=taylor-hanson Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Taylor Hanson Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2115246 2012-11-12T19:00:00-05:00 2013-01-12T05:12:01-05:00

Taylor Hanson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-hanson/
For a year that has been dedicated to the planning of a new album release in 2013 (which is underway) and focusing on looking back at 20 years of music (our band turned 20 this year) we still found a way to cover a lot of ground, from the Far East to the Great North. In this collection of words and pictures I am going to take the chance that you do not mind a lot of skylines, shapes and long shadows, as I feel particularly inclined to share those abstract moments in this look back at another busy year.

You see, between the great concerts (and we have had some incredible ones from Manila to Melbourne to the Vancouver bay this year), my eye is always drawn to the shapes and shadows and nondescript side streets that feel somehow familiar no matter how far away you go.

Throughout this first 10 months of 2012 we have had one constant theme, which has been to leave space for inspiration for the coming album. The idea of 'leaving space' seems an irony when you consider that this year we made it all across Canada, the Philippines, Australia and quite a few one off concerts here in the US, but it makes more sense if you realise that it is the first year since 2006 that we have not done an extensive US tour. With the idea of space for creative thinking, pondering what's next, and letting the musical wheels turn, I pulled together this smattering of ocular engagement.

In Canada we did our first full national tour in the depth of this last winter (snow covering nearly every inch), in the US we made random stops throughout the spring and summer and gathered together fans for our annual fan club gathering (called HANSON Day) and we celebrated the start of our 20th year as a band... yeah, we're all getting old. In the Philippines we brought our first tour to the country since 2004, with an incredible reception from fans everywhere we went, and to wrap up our Shout It Out world tour we returned to Australia with an extensive tour from coast to coast.

I hope you like the view.

Enjoy

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Taylor Hanson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-hanson/ Part 2

9am Saturday morning, we finally make it to Mexico City. The haze of the overnight flight is broken abruptly as we enter baggage claim to the sight of the growing crowd of excited fans holding signs, cameras and gifts through the frosted glass on the other side of immigration. We never want to take for granted an excited crowd, especially when the lapse in visits has been long, but with a tight schedule in order to make the most of our single day in Mexico, we had little time to do more than wade our way through the well-wishing fans at speed. As we loaded into our vehicle members of the crowd followed, filing into several waiting cabs to trail the vans route (something that we saw throughout Latin America, with some impressive and risky antics from followers looking for a picture en route).

When we arrived at the venue we made a discreet entrance through the back, and got settled for a full day of whatever was in store. We had to make the most of the less than 24 hours of time in the flesh in Mexico City to spread the word about the new album and tour, so we immediately stepped into several solid hours of socially acceptable narcissism (interviews), as we attempted to make our answers intelligible on almost no sleep. Our day was moving fast, and we needed to refuel. We were able to procure some classic Mexican tacos with various meats and salsas, and regained the energy needed to focus on the day's continued grind. Mole sauce, salsa verde and perfectly spiced pork and steak in soft corn tortillas gave everyone some pep in their step and we soldiered on.

We made it through our usual routine of wrapping up the final set list a few minutes before the show, taking into consideration some fan requests in Mexico City, and we had an amazing show. One thing you can never fault a Mexican audience for is their excitement and pure volume - something we always appreciate - and the crowd lived up to the amazing response from our last visit almost six years before.

At almost 1.30am in Mexico City after finishing the show and making sure to say thanks to the incredible fans who waited outside afterwards, we made our exit to an airport hotel for a few hours of sleep. The next thing on the docket was an early morning flight, almost early enough to beat the sun, to head to our third continent of the tour.

Our call time was 6am. With great credit to the fans in Mexico, we had many waiting still even at the early hour, attempting to say their last goodbyes as we arrived at the airport. It's one thing to show up for an afterglow following a rock 'n' roll show, but to peel yourself out again at 6.30am is another level. With bags checked in and bodies minimally rested, we waved our last goodbye to the Latin tour.

First we made a short flight back to the US, landing in Dallas, Texas (close to our home turf in Oklahoma), where re-fueled on an early Tex-Mex lunch before boarding another plane on our transatlantic quest, next stop Germany. Some caught up on random B movies in the air, and some of us (remaining unnamed) could not squeeze in that half sleep plane rest, with their mind glued to a new book purchased en route. A bit of rough air, many pages read and various shows/movies digested in the captivity of the bus in the sky, and we were finally on the other side of the Atlantic.

Once we arrived in Stuttgart at 8am, the insanity of our day was on to the final chapter, but would not be complete until we could watch nightfall one more time.

With steely resolve to beat the jet lag and make the most of an insane few days of travel, we pushed on in search of activities to occupy the senses. As the beginning of the holiday season was taking hold across Europe we sought out a Christmas market filled with seasonal beer and pastries, in a cobblestone town square. We spent much of the day out and about, searching out anything that would keep us from collapsing into the comfort of our lush German beds back at the hotel. We did not check out until we had all passed a 12 hour day standing upright, now somewhat acclimated to a new temperature and culture for this round of our touring quest.

As I looked at a new set of surroundings in a different hemisphere, I was reminded how incredible our strange and surreal job is - one that brings us around the world, sometimes with glamour and sometimes trapped in our own version of the daily grind, but no matter the situation we are able to connect with a common interest through music. In a song something can resonate, and through that connection a desire to know more rises up, a desire to hear it again and share that feeling with others. Because of that strange phenomenon of science and spirit we have our job, and sometimes get to claim our part of the sculpture and place our insignia on it. What a job, what a day.

Onward - Taylor H

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Taylor Hanson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-hanson/ Part 1

In the last 14 years we have traveled from Manila to Anaheim, from Santiago to Amsterdam, all the while seeing places both grand and humble along the way - in almost 40 countries, if you're counting. This year we were determined to revisit and grow that list as we supported our latest release Shout It Out. As the year comes to a close, with tours on three continents I'd say we've made strides on our travel agenda, earning a fair amount of miles along the way.

It feels like we haven't stopped moving since we earned our first world touring badge 14 years ago with our debut major label album Middle Of Nowhere in 1997. I guess it feels that way because it's true - we have never stopped. Since 2003 we've embarked on another kind of journey too - running our own label 3CG Records and releasing our own albums around the world, while navigating the close relationship with fans, business and art all meshed together.

Among our many quests, with five albums now under our belt (three of them on our own label), quite a few chart topping singles and albums and a somehow ever-engaged passion from fans around the world, I would say I'm happy to claim the bruises with the accolades. Mounting a world tour to return to many international markets for the first time in several years brings with it a bit of both.

The Shout It Out World Tour has taken us across Latin America, Europe and the UK over the last couple of months. In an attempt to share an inside look, I thought I would highlight one of the most epic days on the tour, taking us from the mountainous region of Santiago, Chile, to Stuttgart, Germany to start the European leg of the tour...

It's after 11pm, and we have just finished our second to last concert on the South American continent, with a show in the dusty valley of Santiago, Chile. Since we started the international shows on the Shout It Out World Tour we have made it through Brazil and Argentina which were both amazing, with a fantastic response from the fans following a six year touring hiatus in the region.

Following the Chilean concert we had to be ready to move quickly in order to catch a late flight overnight heading north to Mexico City, where we would conclude our Latin American tour. Without time to waste, we walked off stage and quickly packed our bags to make it to the airport for the first leg of the longest 48 hours of the tour. With everything collected, we made a short stop outside to say thanks to the gathering of fans waiting by the backstage gates. We squeezed in a blitz of autographs and pictures, and then hustled to get everyone in our crew loaded for departure.

For reasons too many to recount, it has been almost six years since our last concerts in most of Latin America, but in Chile it had been a decade since our last visit during the promotion of our second album, which made the amazing response from so many local fans that much more incredible. As we arrived at the airport we were greeted again by a now familiar gathering of dozens of traveling fans who's fervour and genuine excitement was very welcome, but at times highly complicated to navigate for our motley crew of travelers. With a wave to the crowd as we headed through the security check we were once again in the strange territory between one stop and the next.

It's 1:45am and we're all boarded on the redeye flight, our whole party instantly collapsing into their respective rows. Next stop, Panama. A quick six hours later, we greeted the breaking sun through low clouds and a soft blue bay checkered with countless freight ships across the horizon like toy boats in a large bathing pool. We arrived on Panama's runway, all of us having made good use of the nighttime hours (however insufficient any overnight plane sleep is). Our time in Panama was quick, just a connecting stop. In order to get to our final location of the night/day we had to catch another flight, to Mexico City. The sun was finally up but our day was just beginning, with a busy day of PR for the digital release of the new album Shout It Out, and a concert the same night.

For us the day before never really ended, but that was not going to stop the next day from getting started on another long day at the circus.

TH



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