Pop group Hanson collaborating with dozens of Toronto musicians

Hanson has been hitting the pavement in the music industry for over two decades and are performing their new album String Theory in cities across the globe.

It’s a new adventure for the group as they are performing the album with a local orchestra in each city, included two back-to-back shows in Toronto.

“It’s a crazy project,” Zac Hanson told CityNews. “Everyday on this tour, there is a new symphony in each town and you go on stage and play for the first time with them at rehearsal that afternoon for the show that night.”

The band of brothers flew into Toronto Monday night and only met the local orchestra Tuesday afternoon, just hours before showtime at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

“Every place you play, you are playing with local musicians and you are supporting great players from this community,” Zac said about playing with the 46-person orchestra in Toronto. “You are sharing their skills with potentially a different audience.”

Potentially a different audience with a completely different sound.

Hanson has sold over 16-million records over the span of 27 years. Their recent album takes new and old songs and gives them new life with the symphony orchestra.

“One of the parts that has been really fun is having a big group of people,” eldest brother Isaac said. “The amount of musicians we play with on this tour that have said they either grew up listening to our music or were fans of ours and are now playing with us on stage. There is a lot of that and it is really cool!”

One thing you won’t find with the band is scandal.

They have managed to do almost the unthinkable in the music industry. They went almost three decades without a salacious story-line following them from show-to-show.

“We are in a strange industry where people are celebrated for sort of not being very good people,” Taylor Hanson said when asked why they have been able to keep such a positive image.

“You know, if you are a drug addict or in 17 relationships, any other part of culture, people wouldn’t hire them or even let them around their children. But, we grew up with work ethic and when you commit yourself to do something and try and do a good job,” he added. “We put our struggles and challenges in our songs and then, like most people, just try to handle yourself the way you would want to be treated. You know it’s not really rocket science (laughs).”