Gympie-bred singer-songwriter Darren Hanlon has locked in a fresh round of US tour dates with his mates in Chastity Belt after an originally planned trip was unexpectedly cut short after he was "Mem Foxed" by American customs officials.
"With new Visa glued firmly in my passport, an apology from US Customs and a strengthened resolve I'll soon be reunited with my friends Chastity Belt on their new album tour," Hanlon wrote on social media to announce the dates, which kick off in Washington, DC, on 23 June.
Hanlon had been due to tour the US with Chastity Belt in April, but the trip was aborted early after he "had a run-in with US customs … and came off second best and was sent home", he said.
Although he's remained pretty reluctant to say too much about the specifics, he opened up a little more in a recent email to his fans:
"I wasn't expecting I'd be writing to you at this time but it's true, I got completely Mem Foxed by customs at the San Francisco airport heading into the US a month ago," Hanlon explained. "Except where she eventually got let in, I was ceremoniously marched back to the plane and sent home again.
Children's author Mem Fox made headlines back in February when she was detained by Customs & Border Protection officials at Los Angeles Airport after being accused of having the wrong visa to enter the US.
"Probably best not to get into the nitty-gritty here except only to say that in the process of repairing the situation it's cost me a king's ransom," Hanlon continued.
The Music has contacted Hanlon and his management for comment.
As a result of the expensive process, he lined up a brief run of shows back home "to keep me in tea bags and corn chips", the second and last of which goes down at the Brisbane Arts Theatre tonight, 24 May, with support from his Flippin Yeah Records label-mate Susie Scurry.
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