Graham Hannan, the lead singer and founder of the Louisville-based hard rock band, HANNAN, is, in every sense of the word, a survivor.
The Nashville, Tennessee, native has taken the long, scenic route while pursuing his dream.
His nomadic roots may have had something to do with that.
You see, his father built golf courses for the PGA, leading the family to move frequently throughout Graham’s childhood.
While his father worked in golf, Graham’s passion led him elsewhere.
After studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he worked as a session musician in Nashville before eventually relocating to Orlando, where the earliest version of HANNAN was formed in 2008.
After moving to Chicago, Hannan stepped away from performing for several years. Life has a way of forcing people to veer off their desired path.
And oftentimes, the result ain’t pretty.
“I found myself being absolutely miserable when I wasn’t playing.”
Everything changed in 2012 when he was asked to write a rock anthem for the University of Notre Dame football team.
The song, “Here Come the Irish,” caught fire.
ESPN picked it up, Notre Dame used it, and suddenly Hannan was back in business.
By 2016, he decided to restart the band.
Meanwhile, Dean DuFresne, the band’s drummer, followed a different path but arrived at the same destination.
Growing up in upstate New York, he spent countless hours behind a drum kit imagining himself playing in the biggest arenas in the world.
After college and years away from music, life intervened for him as well.
One of his defining moments happened when he had to sell his prized drum set to repair his car.
“Probably the saddest day of my life was selling my drum set.”
Years later, after moving to Kentucky and building a home with an unfinished basement, he made himself a promise: finish the basement, buy another drum set, and start playing again.
Eventually, he received a phone call asking if he’d be interested in joining an original band.
His first answer?
“No.”
Then he listened to the songs.
Suddenly it was game on.
A decade later, he’s still here.
The origin of the name of the band is not what you might expect.
The headline might read, “EGOTISTICAL LEAD SINGER CHOOSES HIS OWN NAME FOR HIS OWN BAND.”
That’s definitely not the case here.
After weeks of trying and failing to come up with a band name, the decision was made for him.
“Our guitar player said, ‘It’s your last name. That’s what we’re calling it.”
Graham said thanks but no thanks.
Nobody listened.
Today, he jokes that at least it guarantees his spot in the band.
Ask Graham what he loves most about being in HANNAN and the answer isn’t record sales, streaming numbers, or festival appearances.
It’s the people.
He’s the kind of frontman who wants to meet everyone after a show, sign autographs, take photos, and hear their stories.
For him, the real reward is seeing fans connect with something his band created.
“If I can look out there and see all those smiles, and know I’ve made somebody’s day better, that’s what it’s all about.”
Dean feels the same way.
As a drummer, he’s tucked behind the kit, often unable to see every face in the crowd. But when he hears people singing along to songs the band wrote, nothing else matters.
“You cannot put a price tag on that.”
Like countless bands, HANNAN appeared to be gaining momentum just before the world shut down in 2020.
The group had secured showcases during South by Southwest and was preparing for a run of out-of-state performances that felt like a major step forward.
Then everything disappeared almost overnight.
COVID canceled tours, halted momentum, and left the band struggling to survive.
Worse yet, lineup changes followed.
At one point, HANNAN went from five members to three.
“This band was left for dead,” Dean recalled.
The members even gave themselves a deadline.
If they couldn’t get things going soon, they’d call it quits.
Two days before that deadline, everything changed.
They found a new guitarist.
The chemistry clicked immediately.
Then another player joined.
Suddenly there was light at the end of the tunnel.
The new version of HANNAN returned to writing and recording.
Another major turning point came when HANNAN crossed paths with producer, guitarist, Chet Roberts just before COVID hit, in 2019.
The meeting happened in the most rock-and-roll way possible: at a venue that was part rock club, part strip club.
Roberts happened to be filling in on bass with another band that night.
After seeing HANNAN perform, Roberts invited them to Nashville.
The result was the Charm Offensive EP and a dramatic leap forward in songwriting, production quality, and opportunity.
Both Graham and Dean credit Roberts with helping the band mature as musicians and songwriters.
“Chet really showed us how to write songs,” Dean said.
The partnership helped open doors that previously seemed out of reach and laid the groundwork for future releases, including Last Disguise.
Just like every other band out there, HANNAN has stories from the road.
Sometimes those stories happen with mishaps on stage.
Dean admits there have been nights when he accidentally started songs at the wrong tempo or realized halfway through that he was playing the wrong song entirely.
Graham says it’s not out of the question that he forgets his own lyrics from time to time.
One particularly memorable moment happened during a major festival performance when his microphone wasn’t turned on as the band launched into the opening song.
He started singing.
Nobody heard him.
The crowd simply stared.
Graham didn’t panic.
He just went with it.
No panic.
Stuff happens.
Graham says, “It’s rock and roll. It’s not meant to be perfect.”
He says people understand when things don’t go perfect. He says, they do, however, remember how you handle adversity far more than the mistake itself.
What’s HANNAN’s Immediate Future Look Like?
It is, in a word, “packed.”
This summer includes appearances alongside major rock acts, including performances connected to Rock Fest in Wisconsin.
They’re also continuing to work on new music following their partnership with Chet Roberts and Fourth Door Media & Entertainment.
One release fans can expect before fall football season is a modernized version of the song that helped relaunch Graham’s musical career.
HANNAN has been hard at work behind the scenes, working with Roberts and renowned Nashville producer Marshall Bastin, redoing “Here Come the Irish,” the Notre Dame anthem that first gained national attention back in 2012.
The new version updates the original while paying tribute to legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, who passed away this year and whose voice appeared in the first recording.
With Notre Dame a popular preseason pick to make the College Football Playoffs in 2026, the timing couldn’t be better.
Graham, who is a huge Notre Dame fan and attends a game or two every year, says, “Hopefully you’ll hear it at tailgate parties and blaring through the stadium this fall.”
Will Notre Dame play it when the team runs out onto the field?
Will NBC air the song before a big game?
Will ESPN’s College Game Day invite the band to play it live before a game?
“That would be a dream,” says Graham.
When I interviewed Graham and Dean, the conversation was light, introspective, and just plain fun.
I asked each of them which “guilty pleasure” songs were on one of their phone playlists.
Dean’s answer surprised me.
Devo!
Yes, the “Whip it good” guys.
He’s not just a casual fan.
It’s full-fledged fandom.
He says, “I’m a massive DEVO fan.”
The drummer who grew up on hard rock and metal owns the albums and knows the entire catalog.
To my surprise, Dean didn’t stop there.
He took it to the next level with…
ABBA!
Yes, the same ABBA that sang “Dancing Queen” and all the others.
Here’s what’s really cool.
Dean’s not remotely embarrassed about it.
High fives to the hard rock drummer for owning it!
Graham’s confession may be even more unexpected.
While he shares a cross-generational playlist with his teenage daughter that ranges from Ghost to Taylor Swift, his ultimate guilty pleasure song is…
Drum roll, please….
“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen.
He laughs when admitting it, but he says the song reminds him of carefree summers, county fairs, and being a teenager.
Not to mention, he says, “It’s got such a catchy hook.”
Some secrets are worth sharing.
We’re glad he did!
If you follow my Substack (thank you!!) you may have noticed I’m obsessed with what makes people tick, what keeps them going when times get tough.
I’m always asking people, “What makes you unbreakable?”
Graham says it means “never giving up.”
He simply refuses to quit.
“You’re the unbreakable one if you’re the last man standing.”
For Dean, the answer is simpler.
The ability to keep moving when circumstances tell you to stop.
“If you persevere and continue to persevere, you are unbreakable.”
Graham, Dean, and the rest of the HANNAN band have new music they’re about to reveal to the world.
Their collaborations with Marshall Bastin and former 3 Doors Down guitarist Chet Roberts are indeed opening their Fourth Door.
As HANNAN rocks its way into the second half of 2026, the band finds itself on the most promising stretch of road it has ever traveled, with a real shot at taking its hard-earned momentum as far as they want to go.
I love you guys You are very important to me!!!♥️♥️♥️ You are a part of my life!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️
I love these stories, not because they are stars, simply because they are human. 🤍