Submitted by Jodie

Rising Stars Brothers' Sweet Harmony Lands Record Deal

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Date: July 22, 1994 Edition: FINAL HOME EDITION

Author: Mary Ellen Matava

A trio of singing pre-teen brothers from Tulsa hasn't hit the big time yet, but Isaac, Taylor and Zachary Hanson are thinking they could be the next Osmond Brothers or Jackson Five.

Their sweet harmony, homegrown songs and endearing style has caught the eye of record producers.

Their parents, Tulsa natives Diana and Walker Hanson, have known for years that their eldest sons had a unique musical gift. "We could see there was something there to keep building on," Diana Hanson said.

So last fall the Hansons took a chance - they showed up at the hotel of a Los Angeles record promoter who was in Tulsa for a conference. They called him in his room early in the morning and told him he had to hear their sons sing.

The promoter, (edited), was impressed with their chutzpah. He'd never been woken up at 6:30 a.m. to hear an impromptu audition. And he was taken with the Hanson boys' talent.

Doors began to open. The Hansons are in the process of negotiating a recording contract with (edited).

For now, they sing at home and at venues such as Big Splash water park. They love to perform.

Taylor, 11, bubbles over with intensity when he sings. He snaps his fingers and taps his foot as if he's beating an imaginary base drum. He's got a natural rhythm and a knack for arranging music.

Eight-year-old Zachary would have everyone believe he'd rather be drawing or painting than harmonizing with his brothers. But as he rocks from one foot to the other in his long T-shirt and knee-length baggy shorts, Zachary smiles and his sweet voice mingles with his brothers', adding just the right touch.

Isaac squints his eyes and melds his voice with his brothers', swinging his body to the beat. The 13-year-old acts as the group's organizer and producer.

"He makes sure we've got all the pitch pipes with us," Taylor said.

The Hansons figure they've sang and danced in public 200 times, at company picnics and on the community stage at Tulsa's annual Mayfest celebration. Their repertoire has something for everyone - tunes from the '50s and '60s for nostalgic Baby Boomers and little ditties for the kids.

They sing Christian songs and love ballads, too.

You can never tell when the Hanson boys might decide to perform. They all love crowds. They've broken into song in restaurants, hotel lobbies and even at the pool where they train with their swim team. In a roadside restaurant in Los Angeles, the entire place applauded when the boys sang a few numbers.

Some of the Hansons' songs are familiar; they sing pieces by the Beach Boys, Billy Joel and others. But they perform a good number of original songs, penned by the boys themselves.

Their two younger sisters and new baby brother have provided fodder for many pieces. "Funny Bunny" talks about 5-year-old Jessica and her dolls and "Baby Avie" is a rap tune about little Avery, 3.

"She falls on her bottom and she can't get up. Her brothers come over and pick her up."

The boys sing about their new baby brother, Mackenzie, in "Mackey Baby," and young Zachary has written some spiritual songs, such as "Standin' on the Rock."

Mixed in with the cute bee-bop rap tunes are Hanson-written love songs that drip with emotion. They have names like Isaac's mournful "Rain Falling Down" and "More Beautiful," and Taylor's pensive "When I Wake Up in the Night."

Diana and Walker Hanson said they've often wondered how their sons, at the tender ages of 13 and 11, could write songs that elicit such grown-up feelings.

But it's obvious where the boys have found their love song inspiration.

Sitting in the living room of their west Tulsa home, the Hansons juggle their newborn son between them and take turns tending to their young daughters. One listens intently as the other speaks, and laughs when the other says something funny. Together they recall the past, and how they can't remember a time when the other wasn't there.

The couple first met when they were both 4 years old. Diana and "Walk," as she calls him, were married a year after they graduated from (edited) High School in 1972.

They worked their way through college as a couple. As they began their family, the Hansons read about the homeschooling movement. They knew it was a method they wanted to use.

"It caught my heart," Diana Hanson said. "I knew the children would grow up so fast and I wanted to be with them."

And the Hansons agreed homeschooling would provide their children an opportunity to pursue subjects they liked and move forward at their individual paces. The family moved from Tulsa to Washington, D.C., and then to Ecuador, Trinidad and Venezuela. To provide continuity during that time, the Hansons continued to teach their children themselves. They made the most of their time overseas.

"The way you best educate someone is to expose him to as much as you can," said Walker Hanson, an accountant with (edited) "You expose kids and let their own interests take hold."

Each family experience becomes an opportunity to educate. When the Hansons went to Los Angeles to meet with a lawyer to begin negotiations for their sons' record contract, they brought the boys with them. They sat in on meetings with lawyers and promoters. And while they waited outside people's offices, they all had their school books open.

A musical mom who educates her family at home doesn't always set aside a specific time to teach music. The lessons are held at anytime; before bed and during the dinner prayer.

Instruction in harmonizing their voices came at such a time.

Following grace over the evening meal, the Hansons coached their children to sing the "amen" in harmony. It didn't take long for them to pick it up.

Sitting next to one another at the tables in the family school room has been good for the group, known simply as "Hanson," and it's made them a close bunch.

"By homeschooling, they were together a lot," Walker Hanson said. "It fostered their relationship with one another."

The Hansons have been cautioned that allowing their sons to spend so much time singing, performing and possibly recording and touring could hurt them. The boys are aware of that possibility as well.

"People say, `You're taking away their childhood,"' Taylor said. "But you're adding to it."

The boys like to play soccer and baseball and they swim on a team. But Walker Hanson said they sing better than they do all of those things. He and his wife want to encourage their sons to pursue something they naturally excel at.

"It's a hard decision, but this is an opportunity," he said. "We better take it."