Hannan is a military veteran, has worked as a deep-sea oil field diver in the North Sea, north of Scotland, and the Gulf Mexico. He has toured Africa with just his motorcycle and guitar, has done the same in the United States and parts of Canada, and has found inspiration through all of it.

Last Friday evening, Hannan performed some of the No. 1 songs he has written and shared with the audience, including the Joe Nichols hit, “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.” How does a man of Hannan’s experiences and caliber find his way to Calumet? At the invitation of Calumet native and Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Penny Shute Menze.

Menze’s love of music, performing and of the Calumet Theatre, caused her to pause and think about what could be done to ease the disappointment of ticket holders of the cancelled Nichols concert that was scheduled for Nov. 5.

“I got a call from Penny, who told me about it,” Hannan said, “and when she called me, I guess that’s when Joe (Nichols) had cancelled, and she had this brain wave, that: ‘Why don’t we get the writer up here of Tequila makes her clothes fall off?’ I guess she was the catalyst in the event.”

Photo courtesy of Calumet Theatre While performing at the Calumet Theatre last Friday, Gary Hannan was treated to a surprise birthday cake by Calumet Theatre Board of Directors President Dan Jamison.

Hannan, who has performed at venues all over the world, such as London, and even to Normandy, France, where he wrote while sitting on Omaha Beach. None of that, however, prepared him for Calumet had in store for him, particularly the Calumet Theatre.

“I was actually blown away by it,” he said. “Just the ornateness of it all, you know? At that point, I really didn’t have a comprehension of the historical background of the theater. I knew it was a historical theater, but I didn’t know that it had been used as a temporary morgue, and that it had people like Houdini. I mean, I had no idea that it had such a rich heritage. It’s a survivor; it’s stood the test of time. And I was enamored by it.”

The evening Hannan performed at the theater, he was given a surprise party. in a manner only Calumet could do, the theater staff and audience recognized birthday, though it had been a couple of weeks previous.

“Thank you, Calumet Theatre!,” he announced on his social media page .”Never been given a cake on stage and had the entire audience sing, ‘Happy Birthday’ to me before.”

Speaking of being on stage, the Calumet Theatre was not done providing Hannan with surprises, especially the ambiance of the stage.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Hannan said. “I’ve been on a lot of stages and it only takes me 15 or 20 minutes to settle down a little bit, to get used to it, but it just seemed like when I walked on that stage, it was like coming home, really. It was just very — calm. There was no anxiety, there was no pre-show jitters, it was embracing and friendly and accommodating, all at the same time.”

His performance of Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall was surprisingly different from Nichols’ version. Hannan was unaccompanied and performed with just his acoustic guitar.

“Songwriters just have a different, more honest approach to delivering their material,” Hannan explained, “which is opposed to an artist who recorded the song in a studio, where there is an auto-tune going, and there’s the best players in the world in the studio, and there’s everything to make it sound as perfect as it can for the commercial market. Whereas with the songwriter, you just get the authentic delivery straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”

Hannan is already working with Menze and Calumet Theatre President, Dan Jamison, for his return visit, which he hopes will be soon. When not performing his solo ‘Stories Behind The Songs’ show, Gary hosts hit songwriter concerts in venues nation wide. Past performances have included collaborations with Grammy winning artist Billy Dean, Lonestar, Richie MacDonald, Country Music star, Darryl Worley, John Corabi of Motley Crue, Members of ‘The Little River Band’ and many other artists, Hall Of Fame inductees and multi-platinum selling songwriters. It is this type of concert Hannan is hoping to bring to Calumet.

A multi-genre songwriter, Hannan’s songs have been covered by the highest selling solo artist of all time, Garth Brooks and superstar Blake Shelton. His “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” by Nichols and “Back When I Knew It All” by Montgomery Gentry, both topped the Billboard charts. Gary’s contributions include CMA and ACA winning Country Album of the Year, also receiving a Grammy nomination and achieving double Platinum status. Other Notables to sing his songs include, Nickleback, Brad Paisley, Darryl Worley, Chris Young, John Michael Montgomery, Joey and Rory, Craig Morgan, Michael Peterson, Clinton Gregory and Many more. New releases include “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Alone,” recorded by William Shatner (Star Trek) and Jeff Cook (Hall Of Fame member of the supergroup, Alabama, and “Shotgun Wedding” by Montgomery Gentry who also just re-released “Back When I Knew It All” as a duet featuring Brad Paisley.

Graham Jaehnig has a BA of Social Science/History from Michigan Technological University, and an MA in English/Creative Nonfiction Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. He is internationally known for his writing on Cornish immigration to the United States mining districts.