Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970)^[1] is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten of the Irish Album Charts. In the 2000s, he was one half of folk rock duo The Swell Season before releasing his debut solo album, Rhythm and Repose, in 2012. His 2015 second album Didn't He Ramble was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

Glen Hansard
Hansard in 2015
Background information
Birth name	Glen James Hansard
Born	(1970-04-21) 21 April 1970 (age 52) Ballymun, Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Folk rock folk rock alternative rock indie folk indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter actor
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar piano mandolin
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Plateau Records Overcoat Recordings Island
Website	www.glenhansardmusic.com

Hansard and Markéta Irglová playing at Cool Discs record store, Derry, Northern Ireland, April 2006

Primarily a musician, he has also acted and written music for film; he appeared in the BAFTA-winning film The Commitments (1991) and, notably, starred in the Irish music drama Once (2007) which earned him a number of major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" with co-writer and co-star Markéta Irglová. The film was later adapted into an award-winning-musical theatre production.

Career

Hansard quit school at age 13 to begin busking on local Dublin streets.^[2] He formed his own band The Frames in 1990, and the group have been gigging regularly in Ireland since. Hansard came to international attention as guitar player Outspan Foster in the 1991 Alan Parker film The Commitments. He has often stated that he regretted taking the role because he felt it distracted him from his music career. In 2003, he presented the television programme Other Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ.^[3]

On 22 April 2006, he released his first album without The Frames, The Swell Season, on Overcoat Recordings in collaboration with Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Markéta Irglová, Marja Tuhkanen from Finland on violin and viola, and Bertrand Galen from France on cello. Hansard also spent part of 2006 in front of the cameras for the music-infused Irish film Once, in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová an immigrant street vendor. The film had its United States premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the Festival's World Cinema Audience Award. During the promotional tour, he and Irglová began dating.^[4] Said Hansard about his relationship with Irglova: "I had been falling in love with her for a long time, but I kept telling myself she's just a kid".^[5]

Hansard had recorded a version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for the film I'm Not There in 2007. In 2009, Hansard said that he and Irglova were no longer romantically linked, and that they are now "good friends".^[6]

Aside from his projects with The Frames and Irglová, Hansard also took part as a member of the band on the 2006 Oxfam charity album, The Cake Sale. Hansard has recorded several cover songs, both alone and with band member Colm Mac Con Iomaire, for the Today FM discs Even Better than the Real Thing. Songs that he has recorded include Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1 and Britney Spears' "Everytime" on Vol. 2.^{[citation needed]}

He voiced a role on an episode ("In the Name of the Grandfather") on The Simpsons as an Irish busker.^[7] A new album of original songs recorded as The Swell Season with Markéta Irglová and entitled Strict Joy was released on 27 October 2009 on the ANTI- record label.^[8]

 

Glen Hansard, live at Vicar Street, Dublin, 31 December 2006

In the summer of 2011, he joined Eddie Vedder on his American solo tour in support of Vedder's solo album, Ukulele Songs. He played a solo concert at the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Guitar Heroes exhibit in New York City in May 2011.^[9] and on Cape Cod at the Cape Cinema on 17 June.^[10]

In September 2011, he played at Pearl Jam's 20th Anniversary Festival PJ20 at the Alpine Valley Theatre outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. Hansard plays several guitars, including a very recognisable battered Takamine NP15 acoustic guitar (even sporting a large hole), which he calls "The Horse".^[11]

In a November 2011 interview^[12] in The Huffington Post with Irglova, it was revealed that Hansard was preparing a solo album and that there was a very possible third release from The Swell Season. This solo album was later revealed to be titled Rhythm and Repose.^[13]

American Songwriter included Hansard's "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting" on its The Muse July Sampler.^[14] Another song of his featured in a film soundtrack is This Gift, which appears in The Odd Life of Timothy Green.^[15]

Hansard sang the song "Take the Heartland" on the soundtrack for the 2012 film The Hunger Games. Another song he wrote, "Come Away to the Water", is featured on the soundtrack, but is covered by Maroon 5 and Rozzi Crane. Hansard can be found singing "Come Away to the Water" on the deluxe edition of his first solo album Rhythm and Repose. He guest-starred in an episode of the TV series, Parenthood, playing himself. In the episode, "Trouble in Candyland", he performed "High Hope", a single from his solo debut album Rhythm and Repose.^[16] In 2015, Hansard and Lisa Hannigan recorded a song, "On Love", for the soundtrack for the 2014 film Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.^[17] Hansard sang Coyote at the Joni Mitchell 75th birthday concert Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration in Los Angeles in December 2018.

Influences

Hansard has remarked about his musical influences: "In my house, when I was a kid, there was the holy trinity, which was Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan with Bob sitting centre."^[18] Hansard and The Frames toured as the support act for Bob Dylan in Australia and New Zealand in August 2007 and Hansard often performs Van Morrison's songs in concert. Two such songs include "Into the Mystic", and "And the Healing Has Begun" which were included on the collector's edition of the soundtrack for the film Once.

Hansard is a devotee of Krishna and performed for the 80th birthday of Swami Prabhupada in London, staying at a manor donated to the Hare Krishna movement by The Beatles' George Harrison, who was a Hare Krishna devotee.^[19] In July 2013, he sang with Bruce Springsteen at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, Ireland. In July 2015, he performed "Raglan Road" with Ed Sheeran in Croke Park, Dublin.^{[citation needed]}

Other

In 2008, Hansard took a four-week filmmaking workshop at the New York Film Academy.^[20]

In 2016, Hansard was a prominent member of the Home Sweet Home Group, a coalition of activists and homeless.^[21] The group broke into Apollo House in Dublin and illegally occupied it.^[22] They eventually had to vacate the premises due to trespassing.^[23]

Awards and nominations

Selected awards

Year	Ceremony	Category	Work	Result	Notes
2007	80th Academy Awards	Best Original Song	"Falling Slowly" from Once	Won	With Markéta Irglová
	4th Irish Film & Television Awards	Best Music in Film	Once	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Satellite Awards	"If You Want Me" from Once	Nominated
2008	50th Grammy Awards	Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media	Once	Nominated
		Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media	"Falling Slowly" from Once	Nominated
2013	55th Grammy Awards	Best Musical Theater Album	Once (musical)	Won
2016	58th Grammy Awards	Best Folk Album	Didn't He Ramble	Nominated
2021	12th Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Original Song – Onscreen Performance	"Whenever I Fall" from Cyrano	Nominated	With Sam Amidon & Scott Folan
		Original Song – Feature Film	"My Father's Daughter" from Flag Day	Nominated	With Eddie Vedder
2022	Guild of Music Supervisors Awards	Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television		Nominated

Discography

Solo

Albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions								Sales
		IRE ^[24]	AUT ^[25]	BEL ^[26]	GER ^[27]	NLD ^[28]	SWI ^[29]	UK ^[30]	US ^[31]
Rhythm and Repose	Release date: 19 June 2012 Label: Anti-	3	21	111	71	37	40	133	21	US: 77,000^[32]
Didn't He Ramble	Release date: 18 September 2015 Label: Anti-	3	24	42	47	14	31	144	92
Between Two Shores	Release date: 19 January 2018^[33] Label: Anti-	20	10	18	16	30	19	—	—
This Wild Willing	Release date: 12 April 2019 Label: Anti-	23	47	45	27	30	27	—	—

Singles and EPs

• This Gift (2012) (promo)
• High Hope (2012) (promo)
• Bird of Sorrow (2012) (promo)
• Love Don't Leave Me Waiting (2012) (promo)
• Drive All Night EP (November 2013)
• It Was Triumph We Once Proposed...Songs of Jason Molina EP (17 March 2015)
• Winning Streak (30 June 2015)
• Lowly Deserter (November 2015) – (Sky Stone & Records)
• A Season on the Line EP (February 2016)
• Cold Comfort (June 2020)

The Frames

Main article: The Frames § Discography

• Another Love Song (1991)
• Fitzcarraldo (1995)
• Dance the Devil (1999)
• For the Birds (2001)
• Breadcrumb Trail (2002)
• Burn the Maps (2004)
• The Cost (2006)
• Longitude (2015)

The Swell Season

Main article: The Swell Season discography

• The Swell Season (2006)
• Once: Music from the Motion Picture (2007)
• Strict Joy (2009)

Films and television

• The Commitments (1991)
• Once (2007)
• Austin City Limits (2008)
• The Simpsons (2009 episode: "In the Name of the Grandfather")^[34]
• Ballymun Lullaby (2011; documentary)
• The Swell Season (2011)
• Play (2011)
• Parenthood (2010 TV series) (2012 episode: "Trouble in Candyland")^[35]
• In the Deep Shade (2013 documentary, with the Irish band The Frames)
• The Last Man on Earth (TV series) (2016 episode "Falling Slowly")
• Cyrano (2021, Guard #1)

See also

• The Stars Are Underground – 24-minute film documenting the underground music scene in Dublin (1996)

References

1. "Glen Hansard". IMDb profile. IMDb. 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
2. Divola, Barry (29 August 2007). "'Once' in a Lifetime". EW.com. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
3. "New Irish music series hits N2". 20 February 2003. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Jamie Diamond (24 February 2008). "Life imitating art". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
5. Spines, Christine (22 June 2007). . Ew.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
6. Master of excellence (26 January 2009). "falling slowly ... out of love". Independent.ie. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
7. Sosa, Ralph; Anderson, Mike B. (17 March 2009), In the Name of the Grandfather (Animation, Comedy), Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television, retrieved 18 January 2021
8. Young, Alex (10 July 2009). "The Swell Season shares a bit of Strict Joy". consequence.net. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
9. "Glen Hansard and Guitar Heroes". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. May 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
10. "An Evening with Glen Hansard". Cape Cod Today. 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
11. . Takamine Guitars. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
12. Ragogna, Mike (23 December 2011). "A Pomegranate & Billy Jack: Conversations with Once's Marketa Irglova and honeyhoney". Huffington Post.
13. "Folk Pop Music – Glen Hansard Announces Solo Debut, Rhythm..." Facebook. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
14. "Free Download: The Muse July Sampler". American Songwriter. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
15. The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) – IMDb, retrieved 18 January 2021
16. "Glen Hansard to guest star on Parenthood tonight". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
17. "'Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet' Soundtrack Released". Film Music Reporter. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
18. "Dylan support slot a dream come true". Smh.com.au. 15 July 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
19. ""Once" star becomes a Hare Krishna". IrishCentral.com. April 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
20. "Academy Award Winning New York Film Academy". Nyfa.tumblr.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
21. "Home Sweet Home co-founder has multiple convictions for robbery, kidnap and aggravated burglary" (7 January 2017). thejournal.ie. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
22. "Occupy Nama: City property taken over to house homeless". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
23. "Home Sweet Home ordered to vacate Apollo House next month". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
24. "Discography Glen Hansard". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien.
25. "Discography Glen Hansard". austriancharts. Hung Medien.
26. "Discography Glen Hansard". Ultratop.
27. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts". GfK Entertainment (in German). Search for Glen Hansard
28. "Discography Glen Hansard". Dutch Charts. Hung Medien.
29. "Discography Glen Hansard". hitparade.ch.
30. Peaks in the UK:
    • Rhythm and Repose: "Chart Log UK 2012". The Zobbel Website. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
    • Didn't He Ramble: "Chart Update 26.09.2015 (wk39)". The Zobbel Website. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
31. "Glen Hansard Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard.
32. . Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
33. "Between Two Shores by Glen Hansard on Apple Music". iTunes Store (AU). 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
34. ""The Simpsons" In the Name of the Grandfather". IMDb.com. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
35. "Parenthood: Season 4, Episode 10 : Trouble in Candyland (3 December 2012)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glen Hansard.

• Official Website
• Glen Hansard at IMDb
• , theswellseason.com
• Lyrics, IrishMusicCentral.com
• "Excreting Songs" (Hansard interview)
• (2005).