Once upon a time a musician from Dublin dropped out of school to busk on the streets of his city. The next few chapters of his story are full of great success in songwriting, musical performance, film and theatre. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about Glen Hansard – the front man of Irish rock group, the Frames, who later went on to form folk-rock duo, the Swell Season with Marketa Irglova. Together, Irglova and Hansard composed and performed all the original songs in the 2006 musical film “Once,” one of which won the 2007 Academy Award for best original song (which led to the Broadway musical that recently received 8 Tony Awards).
So there’s a little background about Glen – impressive to say the least. But what will really knock your socks off is if you watch him in action. Just a few weeks ago he graced the stage at the Living Room, a small music club on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and treated the audience to a musical moment of a lifetime when Bono joined him on stage to belt out one heck of a version of “The Auld Triangle.” It’s on YouTube. Look it up when you have the time and you’ll see why Glen Hansard is 100 percent deserving of all of his success and more.
I just loved watching Glen deliver such a knockout version of “The Auld Triangle.” He sings with all the passion and grit of the great Irish balladeers. But Hansard’s focus and his greatest gift is crafting original songs, and lately he’s been doing it right here in New York City. Just last week he released his debut solo album, “Rhythm and Repose,” which he recorded over the last year and a half while living in the West Village. With 11 tracks, Hansard conveys warmth and raw emotion in each one of them. Known for his honesty in his songwriting, the majority of the songs on “Rhythm and Repose” are about Glen’s relationships, and there’s a warmth in his voice that make many of the songs sound like intimate conversations between two friends. While the album is a beauty from start to finish, for me the highlights included one of the more rhythmic songs on the album, “Love Don’t Keep Me Waiting” and a moving song of encouragement, “Song of Good Hope.” Glen will be sharing songs from “Rhythm and Repose” in NYC on 6/28 at Le Poisson Rouge and 6/29 at the Beacon Theatre.
For some Irish sounds around town this week check out the Narrowbacks at Murty’s in Pearl River, NY on 6/22, Niamh Parsons at An Beal Bocht Café in the Bronx on 6/23, and the Connecticut Irish festival featuring the Screaming Orphans, the Mickey Finns, Celtic Cross, McLean Avenue Band and more, 6/23 & 6/24 in North Haven, CT.
