Glen Hansard encyclopedia topics

Career

Hansard quit school at age 13 to begin busking on local Dublin streets. He first came to widespread public attention as guitar player Outspan Foster in the Alan Parker film The Commitments. In 2003, he presented the television programme Other Voices: Songs from a Room, which showcased Irish music talent on RTÉ.

On April 21, 2006, he released his first solo album, 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 a music-infused Irish film Once, in which Hansard plays a Dublin busker, and Irglová an immigrant street vendor. The film had its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and received the Festival's World Cinema Audience Award. During filming, he and Irglová began dating. 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. One of the songs they wrote together for the film ("Falling Slowly") won an Oscar for Best Song in February 2008. Hansard and Irglová also recorded a version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for the film I'm Not There in 2007.

Aside from his projects with The Frames and Irglová, Hansard also appeared as part of the band on the 2006 Oxfam charity album, The Cake Sale. In addition, Hansard has recorded a few 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 Vol. 1 and Britney Spears' "Everytime" on Vol. 2.

Awards and nominations

Nominations

Grammy Award 2008 Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media - "Falling Slowly" from Once (film)

Awards

Academy Award 2008 Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) - "Falling Slowly" from Once (film).

Influence

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 center. 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. "Into the Mystic" and "And the Healing Has Begun" were included on the collector's edition of the soundtrack for the film Once.