Blake Hanley is an American musician and singer best known as the former frontman of the indie band Ghost Lion. Before forming Ghost Lion, he was also involved in the music scene as part of the band Nashville-based project Applewoods and later built recognition for his atmospheric, alternative style that blends indie rock with electronic influences. His work is often described as emotionally driven, focusing on themes of personal reflection and relationships.
Outside of his music career, Blake Hanley is also known publicly for his former marriage to actress Emily Wickersham, who starred in the TV series NCIS. The couple married in 2010 and later divorced in 2018. Since then, Hanley has largely kept a low public profile while continuing to focus on music and creative projects.
Bio Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Blake Anderson Hanley |
| Profession | Family law attorney; musician |
| Band | Ghost Lion (frontman/lead vocalist) |
| Education | Palm Beach State College (initial studies); Communication and Media Studies degree, Palm Beach Atlantic University; Juris Doctor (law school — institution not publicly specified) |
| Appearance | Black hair; light brown eyes; casual but neat personal style |
| First Wife | Emily Wickersham (actress — NCIS, Special Agent Eleanor Bishop) |
| Dating Timeline | Began dating approximately 2009–2010 |
| Married Emily | November 23, 2010 — private ceremony, Florida Keys |
| Marriage Duration | Approximately 8 years |
| Divorced | December 2018 |
| Divorce Cause | Not publicly disclosed; no reported controversies or disputes |
| Current Wife | Mumbi O’Brien — visual artist and designer |
| Daughter | Muoni Hanley (born May 2020; name means “peace”) |
| Current Residence | Palm Beach, Florida |
| Legal Practice Focus | Family law — divorce, custody, related legal matters |
| Music Career Status | Ongoing — continues performing and recording with Ghost Lion |
| Estimated Net Worth | $500,000 – $1.5 million |
| Emily Wickersham’s Career Note | Left NCIS in 2021; stepped back from public acting roles |
| Social Media | Instagram — @blakehansolo; personal, family-and-music focused content; not highly frequent but engaged with followers |
| Public Persona | Calm, approachable, grounded; avoids mainstream celebrity visibility |
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Palm Beach, Florida: Where Music and Law Both Took Root
Blake Anderson Hanley’s story begins in Palm Beach, Florida a city better known for its wealth and its golf courses than for producing indie rock frontmen who later become family law attorneys. But that contradiction is, in a way, the entire shape of Blake’s biography: someone who builds an identity out of combinations that aren’t supposed to fit together easily, and makes them fit anyway.
Did you know that Blake’s educational path itself reflects this same pattern of combination rather than narrow specialization? He started at Palm Beach State College before transferring to Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he earned a degree in Communication and Media Studies. That degree focused on understanding how messages get constructed, delivered, and received by audiences turned out to be excellent preparation for both halves of his eventual career. Songwriting is, after all, a communication discipline. So is courtroom advocacy. Blake was building the same underlying skill set in two directions simultaneously, years before either direction had become a defined career.
He went on to law school, eventually earning his Juris Doctor and qualifying to practice as a family law attorney a specialization that requires not just legal competence but genuine emotional intelligence, since family law clients are almost always navigating the most painful chapter of their personal lives when they walk into your office.
Ghost Lion: The Band That Came First
Before the law degree, before the marriage that brought him into public visibility, Blake Anderson Hanley was the frontman of Ghost Lion an indie rock band that built its identity around emotional depth and what listeners and critics consistently describe as genuine sonic cohesion.
Did you know that being the lead vocalist of an indie band requires a completely different kind of public exposure than acting or mainstream pop stardom? Indie music audiences are notoriously discerning. They reward authenticity and punish performance that feels manufactured. Blake’s work with Ghost Lion earned him recognition specifically within those discerning indie circles not mainstream celebrity status, but a more durable and arguably more meaningful kind of respect: the kind that comes from people who actually listen carefully to what you’re making and respond to it because it’s genuinely good.
His live performances reportedly showcased a particular ability to connect with audiences through presence and authenticity rather than spectacle. That distinction matters. There is a version of frontman charisma that’s pure performance, and there’s a version that’s built on actually meaning what you’re singing. Blake’s reputation within indie circles consistently points toward the second category.
The band gave him a creative outlet that he never fully abandoned, even as his professional life expanded into law. Ghost Lion continues, and Blake continues fronting it proof that the music was never simply a chapter he closed when adult responsibilities arrived. It remained, and remains, part of who he actually is.
Emily Wickersham: The Marriage That Brought Public Attention
Blake and Emily Wickersham began dating around 2009 or 2010, during a period when both of them were building distinct creative careers Blake through music, Emily through acting. Their relationship developed largely outside public scrutiny in its early stages, which gave it room to establish its own foundation before media attention arrived.
Did you know that Emily Wickersham would go on to play Special Agent Eleanor Bishop on NCIS one of American television’s longest-running and most consistently popular procedural dramas? Her role brought significant visibility to a relationship that had begun, deliberately, away from cameras. By the time she and Blake married on November 23, 2010, in a private ceremony in the Florida Keys, Emily’s career was beginning its ascent toward the recognition that NCIS would eventually bring her.
The marriage lasted nearly eight years a substantial run by any standard, and particularly by the standards of relationships where one partner experiences a significant increase in public visibility during the marriage itself. Sources describe the relationship as supportive and grounded throughout, with both partners actively engaged in their respective creative careers rather than one subordinating their ambitions to the other’s growing fame.
They divorced in December 2018. The specific reasons were never publicly disclosed by either party. What is notable, and consistently emphasized across available accounts, is the complete absence of public drama, dueling statements, or contentious legal battles that often accompany the end of relationships involving someone with Emily’s level of visibility. Simply put, they ended the marriage with the same caution that had defined their relationship.
After the Divorce: Building Something New
Following the end of his marriage to Emily, Blake Anderson Hanley did not retreat into either obscurity or overcorrection. He continued practicing family law work that, given his own experience navigating a significant life transition, likely informed his professional empathy for clients facing similar circumstances. He continued making music with Ghost Lion.
And he found a new relationship. Blake met Mumbi O’Brien, a visual artist and designer known for creative and cultural work in her own right. Their relationship developed into a second marriage, and in May 2020, they welcomed a daughter: Muoni. Her name means “peace” a detail that Blake has referenced with evident significance, suggesting the choice carried real intention rather than simply being an aesthetically pleasing option.
Did you know that the symbolism behind Muoni’s name reflects something specific about where Blake was in his life by 2020? A man who had built a public identity through the emotional intensity of rock music, navigated a high-visibility marriage and divorce, and continued maintaining a demanding professional legal career, chose to name his daughter for the very quality peace that all of that earlier chapter of his life had been actively working toward. That is not incidental. That is a man telling you, through the most permanent decision a parent makes, exactly what he wanted his life to feel like going forward.The family now lives in Palm Beach, where Blake balances his legal practice, his ongoing music career with Ghost Lion, and his role as a father and husband in a life that prioritizes groundedness over visibility.
Family Law: The Career That Channels His Empathy
Family law is one of the more emotionally demanding specializations within the legal profession. Divorce, custody disputes, and the financial and emotional complexities that surround the dissolution of families require an attorney who can hold both legal precision and genuine human compassion simultaneously.
Did you know that family law attorneys frequently describe their work as requiring more emotional labor than almost any other legal specialty, precisely because clients are rarely at their most rational or composed when seeking representation? Blake has built what sources describe as a reputation for compassionate client relationships guiding people through some of the most emotionally difficult periods of their lives with the kind of patience that doesn’t come from textbook legal training alone.
His own experience navigating a significant, high-visibility marriage and divorce even one handled with discretion and without public conflict likely gave him insight into the emotional terrain his clients navigate. He understands, in a way that purely academic legal training cannot teach, that divorce is never simply a legal transaction. It is an emotional rupture that happens to require legal paperwork.
Social Media, Public Image, and the Authenticity He Actually Practices
Blake Anderson Hanley maintains an Instagram account under the handle @blakehansolo. He does not post constantly, but when he does, the content reflects genuine glimpses into his actual life: family photographs, music career updates, occasional reflections that mix his legal work with his artistic identity.
Did you know that Blake reportedly engages directly with fans through his social media, responding to messages in a way that creates a sense of accessible community rather than the curated distance that most public figures maintain? That willingness to be present and responsive, rather than simply broadcasting content from a remove, reflects the same authenticity that defines his approach to music: connection over performance.
His public image, assembled from his own social media presence and from the biographical coverage generated by his connection to Emily Wickersham, presents a remarkably consistent figure across every account: calm, approachable, grounded in family and creative work rather than oriented toward fame, and genuinely uninterested in converting his Hollywood-adjacent history into a personal brand.
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FAQs:
1. Who is Blake Anderson Hanley?
An American family law attorney and musician, best known as the former husband of NCIS actress Emily Wickersham and the frontman of indie rock band Ghost Lion. He is currently married to visual artist Mumbi O’Brien and lives in Palm Beach, Florida.
2. What is his musical background?
He is the lead vocalist and frontman of Ghost Lion, an indie rock band recognized within independent music circles for emotional depth and sonic cohesion. He continues performing and recording with the band.
3. Where did he study?
He began at Palm Beach State College before transferring to Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he earned a degree in Communication and Media Studies. He later attended law school and earned his Juris Doctor.
4. When did he marry Emily Wickersham?
November 23, 2010, in a private ceremony in the Florida Keys. They had been dating since approximately 2009 or 2010.
5. How long were they married?
Nearly eight years. They divorced in December 2018. The specific cause was never publicly disclosed.
Final Words
Blake Anderson Hanley is an American family law attorney and musician best known as the former frontman of the indie band Blake Hanley (Ghost Lion). He has built a dual career in both law and music, balancing legal practice in family law with his continued work in the indie music scene.
He was previously married to actress Emily Wickersham (NCIS), with the couple divorcing in 2018 after nearly eight years of marriage. Since then, he has maintained a private, grounded life, focusing on his family, legal career, and music.