By Jonathan Bowen
Glen Hansard was in New York City recently. He was in in town to appear at the tribute concert to Paul McCartney, alongside Graham Nash, Christopher Cross, Peter Asher and Denny Laine at Carnegie Hall. It was a fabulous night which raised money for the music education for underserved youth programs.
While I was in NYC I got to catch up and see Glen play a secret gig at The Scratcher bar down in the East Village. When I turned up at The Scratcher it felt like I had taken a step back in time to the old coffee shop bars during the 60s where you would find acts like John Sebastian and or Roger McGuinn playing old folk songs.
Glen had his good friend Brendan O’Shea support him. Now, I have been around the Irish folk scene for a long time and Brendan hadn’t yet crossed my path, but I was amazed at just how good he was. He played some of his original songs as well as some classic Irish folk songs. His original songs reminded me of songs that Luka Bloom wrote like his classic ‘The City of Chicago’. Brendan performs gigs in and around New York State. I highly recommend catching one of his gigs or sessions around town.
After a short break Glen then started his session. He played a mixed of some of his older and newer songs. The standout song he performed was his Oscar winning track ‘Falling Slowly’ with a local singer who was in attendance.
Glen’s session was full of stories laughter and good times. He finished the session playing that Dublin classic folk song ‘The Auld Triangle’. He went around the room and each person sung a verse. It really did bring me back to the old sessions you would find around the place in Ireland!
Glen will be back in the USA later in the year with a full tour alongside Marketa Irglova to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their classic Irish movie and Tony Award winning musical Once! Glen and Marketa will be playing Radio City Music Hall on the 12th of August.
Also keep an eye our for Glen’s new album which will be released soon and for the Irish Examiner USA’s interview with Glen when Paddy McCarthy will be sitting down with him to talk about his career, his new album. Also check out Glen in the newly released David Letterman special on Disney+, A Sort of Homecoming. Glen talks about the influence Bono, The Edge and U2 had on his music and career. It is well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet!