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Glen Hansard music biography continued...

to begin busking on local Dublin streets. He formed The Frames in 1990 and they struck a deal with Island. Their debut album, Another Love Song, came out that same year, but the group wouldn't hit their stride until 1996's Fitzcarraldo, which featured the Hansard-penned hit singles "Revelate" and "Say It to Me Now." Over the next decade, the Frames would become one of the most popular live acts in Irish music history. The group's recordings, including Dance the Devil (1999), For the Birds (2001) and The Roads Outgrown (2003), also earned them critical and commercial acclaim. In April 2006, Hansard released his first album without The Frames, 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 went on to earn Hansard a 2008 Oscar for Best Song for "Falling Slowly." The first Irish-born talent to win in that category, Hansard suddenly found himself a well-known musical commodity in America, as well as the UK.



The Frames released their sixth studio album, The Cost, in September 2006. They appeared on the setlist at Lollapalooza 2006 just 12 days afterwards, contributing to a higher profile in the US. In terms of his solo work, Hansard recently completed a new album of original songs recorded with Markéta Irglová and entitled Strict Joy. He continues to perform and record with the Frames and also as a solo artist, demonstrating that true talent knows no bounds.