In Between the Main Attractions: Taylor Hanson's Report From the Road
By Taylor Hanson
Since our last blog post, taking us to the
Netherlands for
the 40-year-old music festival Pink Pop, we've been filling our time
with a mix
of random promo appearances, one-off shows throughout the month of
August and
some stints making music for outside projects in Dallas and Nashville, while running into buds like music icon Rick Nielsen along the way. As is the
pattern with my wandering photo blogs, you will notice I have become mildly
obsessed
with cactus arrangements and their prickly beauty in addition to other
colorful
and various still life pics -- from robots to remote control walls. As
August begins to wrap up, our attention is starting to turn to an upcoming epic run of touring in the US, Latin America and Europe that kicks off in September with
the US
Musical Ride Tour and Shout It Out
World Tour. But for this installment, it's more about the little things
in
between the main attractions.
During the last few weeks one thing we have done
is spend a
fair amount of time in our Tulsa 3CG headquarters setting up a new
studio,
writing tunes, testing out new ideas for crazy merch (like custom screen-printed
posters) and... well, eating delicious tacos. During our studio stint I had
fun
taking some slightly creepy-looking long exposures of Zac and myself in
some of
the low-lit studio spaces. I became a bit fixated on the manual features
available with the amazing Leica Dlux 4 camera, which is the best point
and
shoot around (aside from the DLux 5 which I am currently coveting). Also
not to
be missed is Zac's short window sporting a fledgling handlebar
mustache.
After getting things in order with our new studio
space, we
spent a few days in Dallas to help out radio talk show host Kidd
Kraddick and I
hung around to write a tune with bud Jaret Reddick of Bowling For Soup
and
People On Vacation, which was face melting
(especially for an afternoon of slamming out a tune together for the
first
time).
Our creative adventures continued with a trip
to Nashville
to write tunes in collaboration with old friends like Zac Maloy of the
Nixons
and Jars of Clay as well as a slew of insane talent from the Nashville
songwriting community, like Matthew West and the lovely and
talented
Brandon Jane of Coldwater Jane. It was great to spend a bunch of time
simply writing
with others in mind, playing a collaborative role to create tunes for
other
artists to bring to the people. Finally, to bring it the home kitchen, I've included a pic of one of my fav pastimes, cooking. On
the plate, a large husk of roasted Mexican street corn, marinated
strip
steak, and a tossed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and a hint of raspberry. Yummy.
The next few weeks will take us far and wide
again, with
another stop in the UK (where I am currently writing this blog) for an
appearance at V Festival, followed by the upcoming Sunset Junction in
Los
Angeles. It's all a great warm-up for a full fall season of rock 'n' roll touring.
Your Comment
Posted at 3:34 on Aug 19, 2011
Great pictures
Posted at 3:38 on Aug 19, 2011
Taylor, I LOVE reading your blogs, and looking through the photos. I'm obsessed with black and whites, but I love the way you capture color. The long exposures of you and Zac remind me of trying to figure out pin-hole cameras in my high school parking lot - very cool.
Can't wait to catch yall in Texas, enjoy your time in the UK!
-Eileen
Posted at 4:11 on Aug 19, 2011
First time i have read Taylors blog here will make sure i catch up on the rest xx
Posted at 4:24 on Aug 19, 2011
HaHa 1st one to comment!! Well enough of my weirdness. Taylor I really enjoy all your blogs and photos. Thanks for sharing!!
Posted at 4:30 on Aug 19, 2011
The fact that you can eat that much and still be a skinny as you you are is impressing. ;-)
Posted at 4:57 on Aug 19, 2011
Wonderful as always, Taylor. I especially like the still life photographs such as the car, the fence and of course the food which seems to blend two of your passions. Why couldn't I have married a man who loved to cook? Ha.
As an aside, check out this thread at hnet - http://www.hanson.net/site/forum_threads/153728 where we're talking food and recipes.
Have a wonderful time at V-Fest and look forward to seeing you/your band at your Massachusetts Musical Ride shows. x
Posted at 5:46 on Aug 19, 2011
Can't wait to see you guys (...and MEIKO!!) in Seattle!!! xoxo
Posted at 5:51 on Aug 19, 2011
I don't know how you do it but somehow you make random photo's look cool. Thanks for continuing to share them with us here on Papermag. It's great your writing new music with other artists in Nashville, I'm just trying to figure out if some of the songs will be yours or the other artists you were writing with.
Posted at 6:05 on Aug 19, 2011
I love your pictures and the stories behind them. Keep it up!
Posted at 6:36 on Aug 19, 2011
Very nice Mr.Taylor...
What can i say...you seem to be good in everything you do!!! Songwriting... singing...now taking pictures...and of course you look gorgeous!!!! I just don't know how the food tastes..but it definitely looks good!
I'm always listening to you guys and always enjoying your work since i was 11!
Keep doing it, it fills my heart with a good feeling i cant describe!!!
I was a little late this time... just gave the atention "Shout it out" deserve this year...but once again i just love it!
When i listen to your voice and take a deep breath, it's like im melting and at the same time it's an explosion of energy that almost makes me high!!!!haha did you get it??? And when i sing along i feel it again!!!
Great music experience!Thanks so much.
I guess i see you here in Porto Alegre/Brasil next november 4th, the other time you guys came here we met in the backstage of a tv show...i don't know how i'll make it this time,but you can bet i talk to you soon.
Kisses!!!
Posted at 9:53 on Aug 19, 2011
These pictures are nice, I really like your vision of the world :)... It's like, you take your time to find beauty in simple (and funny!) things, but still don't take them too seriously. Photographing is a great past-time, I say. So is writing (I like your writing style as well, in fact it kind of resembles mine a little). I really liked the one with the little hedge in the garden, it brought back some memories... And your food actually looks yummy :P oh, and so does Zac's moustache xD yum!lol. Looking forward to new posts!
Posted at 12:04 on Aug 20, 2011
Thank you for sharing. I'm happy that you included the picture of you and Matthew West in the blog. He is one of my favorite song writers. You and your brothers are among my favorites (and perhaps Hanson is my favorite band, safe to say). So whatever you guys came up with should be great. I just hope and pray that you guys make it available on an album or amazon. Maybe both :)
Hope you and your brothers have a great tour. I'm hoping to be at a show in October. If plans go well, it would be my second show seeing you guys. I don't go to many concerts and seeing you guys again would be awesome. Been a fan since '97 and my first show was in Raleigh, NC 2010, it was a nice road trip.
Posted at 2:57 on Aug 20, 2011
Is there any plan to visit Japan? We all Japanese thank you for your help and is looking forward to your coming to Japan for musical ride tour. Japanese funs have been eager to see you at your concert!
Posted at 6:23 on Aug 20, 2011
Reading your blog made me smile. :) I love it! And the photos were very interesting, sometimes funny, and sometimes with an atmosphere that put me in awe. And, well, the long exposure photos were actually a little creepy! :P Although that only makes them more interesting. Anyway, that food looks really good! -P
Posted at 12:52 on Aug 20, 2011
Hey great to hear what you've all been up to lately. Love your photos, but I'm craving to see what kind of stuff you come up with your 7D! Give us some HQ, unprocessed 7D yummies next time, k! Hope V festival is going well! See you on the SIO europe tour!
Posted at 11:43 on Aug 20, 2011
I love how Taylor can take pictures of nothingness and it still turns out amazing.
Posted at 2:21 on Aug 21, 2011
Hi, i like to ask what kind of camera did u used to make this photos ?
Posted at 12:11 on Aug 23, 2011
son tan divertidos me encantan sobre todo zac que es como yo en hombre tenemos tantas cosas en comun incluso la fecha de nacimiento no se como pueden haber 2 peronas iguales en personalidad
Posted at 6:09 on Aug 24, 2011
I really liked the article, and the very cool blog
Posted at 4:11 on Aug 25, 2011
Hey awesome, u ever heard of solfeggio tones, mmmm
Posted at 9:34 on Aug 25, 2011
True artists and to think how talented your children must be!