Going The Same Way – Tracing Footsteps #8 

Each month until June 2017 we will share fan stories from around the world to celebrate Hanson’s remarkable career and Fan Community.
We have invited fans from five continents, to share their experiences and they tell us in their own words, how they have traced footsteps on a journey with Hanson and their music.

This Month We Share  Jocelyn’s Story

Where are you from? When and how did you become a Hanson fan?

I am from Cambridge Ontario Canada. I became a Hanson fan in 1997. I don’t think I had the Middle of Nowhere Cassette until middle of that summer. I remember it vividly. I was up in Port Elgin Ontario where my parents have a trailer in a family campground. We took a trip to Radio Shack for my brother to pick up some cassettes he was interested in. I picked up two cassettes (not really knowing much about them), No Doubt and a band called HANSON – Middle of Nowhere. We ventured back to the campground and in the lazy hazy afternoon sun, I grabbed my handy dandy Walkman, stuck in the Hanson cassette and laid out on the picnic table. Thinking of you started to blast into my ears, and that was it.
My life would be forever changed.

What drew you to Hanson and what keeps you coming back for more?

I can’t really say what drew me into Hanson. I was 10 years old when I first bought that cassette. But I do know that the music helped me get through some of the hardest times of my life. I guess on a larger scale perhaps someone KNEW that I would need Hanson and their music to get me through those difficult times. The friendships and experiences I gained from being a Hanson fan kept me coming back for more. When you become attached and interested in someone or something that young – you feel like you truly know them. It’s kind of hard to break a bond like that. Very few understand that – and that’s ok! I had somewhat of a difficult childhood and would often get lost in the online Hanson world – the Hanson forums and Hanson chat. Sometimes I think that the Hanson world saved me.

Tell us about your favourite Hanson songs.

I have a hard time choosing favourite Hanson songs. Every song takes me on a journey. I will say that I have favourite albums overall. Middle of Nowhere for sentimental reasons. I could listen to that album over and over again and be transported back to 1997.

Tell us about your experiences, adventures, and journey of being a fan.

Being a Hanson fan has taken me on some special journeys. From about age 10 to 17 I stuck to mainly Canadian concerts around Ontario. When I was 18 I took my first trip to see Hanson for Hanson day in Tulsa. I boarded a greyhound bus with a childhood Hanson fan friend Rita and it took us two days to get there! The first picture below is Rita and I meeting for the first time. I think I was 12 here.

The second picture is us before we boarded a Greyhound for Tulsa! FREEDOM!

Tell us about your memories of special moments and memories of Hanson and their music or of being a fan.

A favourite memory would be travelling to the UK for tour in 2013.
I won a meet and greet through Hanson.net and was able to get front row to the Glasgow show which was amazing! It meant a lot to me as Scotland is my ancestral home and visiting the country as a whole was surreal for me! I will always enjoy the music and Hanson as a band first and foremost however, what I enjoyed perhaps on the same level as the actual shows was getting together with friends from my online Hanson world after so many years of just talking to them and their hospitality of taking me in for the tour! Getting front row, talking to the band, getting pictures with the band – I am not so desperate for. The friendships that have been created THANKS to this band is what means the most.

What Hanson music taught you or how has it helped you or inspired you?

The importance of community and friendship above all else.

If you had to choose 3 words to describe Hanson and their music, what would you choose?

Transcending, Memories, Harmony

If you were on a desert island and could only have one Hanson album, which one would you choose? Why?

Middle of Nowhere – it makes me happy and also took away some of the loneliness when I was younger so I suppose it could make me feel less alone on a desert island 😉

If you had 1 day to spend with Hanson and you could choose what to do with that day, what would you choose.

We would get together with all of my Hanson fan friends, cook, eat, laugh and be merry.

If you could write a letter to Hanson and say Thank You for one thing in particular, what would it be?

Simple as this – thank you Hanson, for taking away the loneliness of my childhood and for giving me some of the most amazing friends when I needed them the most.

Many Thanks to Jocelyn for sharing her story with us.

Please do not use or copy Jocelyn’s pictures without permission.

• Tags: 2013, anthem, anthem world tour, Hanson, Isaac Hanson, middle of nowhere, MMMBop, Taylor Hanson, tulsa, Zac Hanson