A great man passes - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

In the immediate aftermath of the death of Glen Hansard, the beloved Irish singer and songwriter, I received a number of messages from friends, knowing that I was a tremendous fan of his and saying that, when they heard the news, their minds turned to me.

 

Hansard was the frontman of The Frames, a coveted, yet mildly successful Irish band. It was, however, in his solo career and his work with Markéta Irglová, billed as The Swell Season, that he made an impact on the world at large, beyond the independent Irish music scene and those who knew about the busking scene on Grafton Street in Dublin and trad sessions in storied Irish pubs.

 

He had been the frontman of The Frames since he was a teenager, a position he maintained until last week when he died at the age of 56 as a result of a motorcycle crash. His breakthrough in North America came when he and Irglová starred in a small, independent Irish film called Once, for which the pair wrote all of the songs. Made for a budget of 112,000 Euros (and likely seen by fewer than half as many people), the film gained traction when “Falling Slowly”, performed by the duo, was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, eventually winning back in 2007. 

 

I was introduced to Hansard before this. A friend and I bought tickets to see Damien Rice back in 2004. Originally slated to play Trinity- St. Paul’s United Church on Bloor Street in Toronto, the show was moved to Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto due to the overwhelming demand. When I bought our tickets at Rotate This, the clerk told me to get there early because, if this show was in Ireland, the opener - The Frames - would be the headliner and Rice would be supporting. 

 

The show was incredible. Both Rice and The Frames were transcendent and we were treated to a Rice encore that he played with Hansard, covering Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley. We left full converted Hansard fans for life.

 

(A quick note, as I Googled the setlist and date for this show, I found that a bootleg of it - a legal bootleg, one would assume - is online at Internet Archive - archive.org - to listen to in its entirety. You’ll be rewarded for your time.)

 

We saw The Frames again in Toronto in 2007 where Hansard’s Oscar made a brief appearance; after all, he had just won it a few months earlier. Jess and I would then go on to see him at Massey Hall where he did what so many great vocalists do in that room, which is unplug and play a song to a hushed crowd - just a man and a guitar in a room. Magical.

 

Hansard might not have been popular in the biggest sense of the word - like a Taylor Swift or even like some of his biggest collaborators and fans like Eddie Vedder and Jack Johnson - but he was one of those guys everyone loved. He was an enthusiastic lover of music and champion for Irish artists with whom no one could ever quarrel. He was a regular at busking engagements and local pubs, just as he was at some of the biggest halls in the world, and he was a staple at anniversary shows, always keen to pay tribute to those who inspired him. He was also a very gifted storyteller, like so many Irish folks before him, and this is evident in all of his live performances, which are chock full of interstitials both touching and hilarious. 

 

Favourite Hansard song: “What Happens When The Heart Just Stops” with an honorable mention for “Say It To Me Now”, though the delicate genius of “Falling Slowly” cannot be denied, as mainstream as that may be.

 

The world lost a true artist and troubadour in Hansard and the outpouring of grief has shown the impact he had on the world. Thanks, Glen.