Fans can meet Hanson through ‘The Walk’

Hanson, a trio of brothers who have been playing music since their childhood, will be welcomed to Bloomington for the second time since 2005, but this time with a new purpose. Before Thursday night’s performance at The Bluebird, 216 N. Walnut St., they will lead “The Walk.” \nIt’s not just the title of their album. “The Walk” is an event in which brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson will walk barefoot for one mile in Bloomington to help promote their new mission: improving the quality of life in Africa. The group has done one-mile walks in each city of its current tour to inspire action for poverty and AIDS problems in Africa. The shoeless walks support the idea of walking in someone else’s shoes by “being in need,” Taylor said.\n“The idea was to do something representing taking action,” he said. “It’s sparked an inspiration and motivation in them to ask more questions.”\nA partnership with TOMS shoes has allowed thousands of shoes to be donated to African communities, many of which the band delivered during a trip to Africa earlier this month. After each walk, the band sells TOMS shoes, and for every pair of TOMS shoes bought, another is donated to the African communities.\n“The Walk” will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday at The Bluebird. Tickets are available for the 8 p.m. show and can be purchased at the venue.\nDirector of Bluebird Promotions Ari Solomon said the idea of the walk is not only to promote awareness, but also to get people to take action and buy shoes so more are donated.\n“They really wanna start small,” Solomon said of Hanson’s new cause. “The whole story behind “The Walk” is kind of bringing the problems of Africa to the minds of their fans and hopefully to the whole world.”