Glen Hansard

  • Dublin, Ireland
    hometown
  • Rock
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  • 1983
    started
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About Glen Hansard


With a host of real-life songs and lilting vocals that reflect a passion for his influences (particularly Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan), Glen Hansard is best known for his work with the Frames and the Swell Season. Born to a working-class Dublin family during the spring of 1970, he left school at age 13 in search of making music his career. He began busking the streets of Dublin, laying the groundwork for his engaging stage persona and, ironically, mimicking the plot line of Once, the movie that would later make him a star in multiple countries. By his late teens, Hansard had recorded his first demo with the help of his Mum, who'd lent him some money for the project. One of the 50 tapes he pressed landed in the hands of Island Records' Denny Cordell, a former producer who'd previously helped bring Tom Petty and Joe Cocker to the Island roster. Upon a meeting at Cordell's flat, the 17-year-old Hansard also met Ron Wood, Marianne Faithfull, and Stewart Copeland. The meeting, to say the least, left a lasting impression on Hansard, and in the end, Cordell signed him with the approval of Island founder Chris Blackwell.

From there, Hansard quickly gathered a group of fellow buskers and formed the Frames. Unfortunately, quick accolades proved daunting for Hansard and the Frames, whose grunge-influenced release Another Love Song came and went without selling much. Island Records responded by dropping the group. To distract himself from the disappointment, Hansard took on the role of Outspan Foster, a guitarist in the famed Alan Parker film The Commitments. He would later admit that he shouldn't have taken the role, as it merely placated his struggle with making music. But a trip to New York gave Hansard the space and time to dream it all up again, and with a newfound focus, he wrote the guitar-blazing anthem "Revelate" and "Say It to Me Now." Both songs eventually landed on the Frames' proper debut album, Fitzcarraldo, which was released in 1996 and helped make the Frames a popular group in Ireland.

Over the next decade, Hansard and the Frames continued releasing albums while also becoming one of Ireland's finest live acts. In 2003, Hansard played host to Other Voices: Songs from a Room, a popular television show featuring Ireland's best in new music. Three years later, while the Frames readied the release of their sixth effort, The Cost, Hansard unveiled a new side project called the Swell Season. The acoustic-based group featured his collaborations with Czech songstress Markéta Irglová. He and Irglová also appeared as working-class immigrants in the Irish movie Once, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and won an Oscar later that year. Thanks to the movie's success (not to mention its popular soundtrack, Once: Music from the Motion Picture, which featured the band's music), the Swell Season became a popular act in Ireland and abroad, leading to the release of a mature sophomore album in 2009. 2011's Anti-released Rhythm and Repose, the solo debut from Hansard, was produced by Thomas Bartlett (the National, Antony & the Johnsons) and inspired by the singer/songwriter's year-and-a-half spent as a denizen of New York City. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi

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Photos

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  • Overcoat
    Glen Hansard
    Overcoat

News

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  • Glen Hansard
    Damien Rice, Bono and The Swell Season's Glen Hansard Collaborate on Christmas Eve
    www.jambands.com
    Bono, The Swell Season's Glen Hansard, Damien Rice and Mundy collaborated on Christmas Eve. The Irishmen united for an impromptu busking session on Du...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Watch the Video for Glen Hansard's "Philander"
    Paste
    As previously reported, Glen Hansard is set to release his solo debut, Rhythm and Repose, on June 19. The album will be Hansard's first LP since The S...
    Read More
  • Glen Hansard
    Glen Hansard to Release Solo Debut
    www.jambands.com
    Singer songwriter Glen Hansard will release his first solo album, Rhythm and Repose, on June 19 via Anti- Records. Best known for his work with The Fr...
    Read More
  • Glen Hansard
    Watch Glen Hansard’s Video for “Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting”
    Paste
    Irish busker-turned folksy superstar Glen Hansard has debuted a video for his new single, "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting." Hansard confirmed in a Tweet ...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Watch Bono Sing With Glen Hansard at NY's Living Room
    Paste
    That's the thing about playing a gig in New York: You never know who's going to show up. When Glen Hansard was doing a taping for Sirius/XM's "The Lof...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Watch Bono Join Glen Hansard At NYC's The Living Room
    stereogum.com
    something about that venue's tendency to house the world's biggest talents on one of the world's smallest stages is really perfectly framed by the ide...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Bono Joins Glen Hansard At Intimate New York City Show (Video)
    American Songwriter
    Last night at the The Living Room in New York City, U2 frontman Bono dropped in on his fellow Irishman Glen Hansard, and joined him for a song. Uber-m...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Glen Hansard And Lisa Hannigan Cover "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
    American Songwriter
    The deeply felt Americana music of The Band is not just appealing to Americans. Watch as Irish musicians Lisa Hannigan, collaborator John Smith, and O...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Iron and Wine and Glen Hansard Unite for Intimate Club Gig
    www.rollingstone.com
    They brought no plan or set lists, but modern troubadours Sam Beam (a.k.a. Iron and Wine) and Glen Hansard (the Frames, Swell Season) filled a tiny cl...
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  • Glen Hansard
    Iron and Wine's Sam Beam, Glen Hansard Team Up for Tiny Club Show
    www.billboard.com
    Iron and Wine's Sam Beam introduced new music to a rapt audience packed into Hollywood's Sayers Club in a KCRW-sponsored evening that included a set f...
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Tour Dates

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  • Jun 5 Wednesday
    Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso Grote Zaal
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  • Jun 9 Sunday
    Chicago, IL, US Metro
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  • Jun 10 Monday
    Chicago, IL, US Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park
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  • Jun 12 Wednesday
    Pittsburgh, PA, US Three Rivers Arts Festival
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  • Jun 13 Thursday
    Manchester, TN, US Great Stage Park
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  • Jun 13 Thursday
    Manchester, TN, US Great Stage Park
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  • Jun 15 Saturday
    Raleigh, NC, US North Carolina Museum Of Art
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  • Jun 16 Sunday
    Washington, DC, US 9:30 Club
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  • Jun 18 Tuesday
    Toronto, ON, Canada Massey Hall
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  • Jun 20 Thursday
    Ottawa, ON, Canada Ottawa International Jazz Festival
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  • Jun 20 Thursday
    Ottawa, ON, Canada Festival Plaza - Olg Stage
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  • Jun 26 Wednesday
    Shepton Mallet, UK Worthy Farm
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  • Jun 30 Sunday
    Middelkerke, Belgium De Zwerver
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  • Jul 2 Tuesday
    Erlangen, Germany E-Werk Erlangen
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  • Jul 3 Wednesday
    Munich, Germany Theaterfabrik
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  • Jul 7 Sunday
    Bologna, Italy Bolognetti Rocks
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  • Jul 14 Sunday
    Dublin, Ireland Iveagh Gardens
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  • Jul 21 Sunday
    Dublin, Ireland Iveagh Gardens
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  • Jul 25 Thursday
    Galway, Ireland Festival Big Top
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  • Jul 27 Saturday
    Kilkenny, Ireland Nowlan Park
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  • Aug 8 Thursday
    Haldern, Germany Alter Reitplatz
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  • Aug 12 Monday
    Berlin, Germany Zitadelle Spandau
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  • Aug 15 Thursday
    Kiewit-Hasselt, Belgium Unknown venue
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  • Aug 22 Thursday
    Graz, Austria Orpheum
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  • Aug 24 Saturday
    Winterthur, Switzerland Musikfestwochen
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Discography

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  • Rhythm and Repose (2012)
    Glen Hansard
    Rhythm and Repose (2012)
    Epitaph
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    Overcoat Recordings
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    Overcoat Recordings
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    Epitaph
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    EMI Music Distribution
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    Spunk Records
  • The Swell Season (2006)
    Glen Hansard
    The Swell Season (2006)
    Plateau Records (UK)
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