From Australia To America: The Roots Music of Darren Hanlon

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,

Will Michaels

Published June 11, 2015 at 11:50 AM EDT

Darren Hanlon will open the Back Porch Music on the Lawn concert June 11.

Darren Hanlon grew up in a small town in Queensland, Australia with American legends like Kenny Rogers playing on the turntable.

His early musical education, a month in the Australian desert, and an Amtrak trip through the American South informed the kind of artist he is today; a roots music singer-songwriter with a passion for lyrical and narrative tracks. Darren Hanlon plays live on the State of Things

Host Frank Stasio talks with Hanlon about his life and career, and Hanlon plays live. Hanlon opens tonight's Back Porch Music on the Lawn concert at 6 p.m. in Durham.

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio

Will Michaels

Will Michaels started his professional radio career at WUNC.

See stories by Will Michaels