Glen Hansard Breaks from Swell Season for Solo Tour

Glen Hansard is known as a lot of things: lead singer of the Irish band The Frames, former member of the duo The Swell Season, an acclaimed actor in “Once,” an Academy Award winner (for a song from “Once”) and probably many more. But this year, he has chosen to go simply by his own name for the first time, both on record and on marquees.

Hansard just released his first solo album under his own name, and later this year he will embark on a solo tour to promote that album. He is already making his way around Europe, and he will head to North America on September 15, where he has a gig scheduled at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Mich. His North American tour will then run through December 3 and 4, when he has a two-night residency scheduled at the Ruth Eckerd Music Hall in Clearwater, Fla.

Other cities he will visit on the tour include Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Vancouver, Seattle, Houston and Orlando. In the midst of the trek, in late October, he will head back to Europe for a handful of dates before continuing the North American jaunt.

Rhythm and Repose, that aforementioned first solo album, was released late last month. Though many of the songs follow similar themes he has explored with both The Frames and The Swell Season, he for the first time used session musicians in the studio.

The Swell Season was formed with Hansard’s “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova, who also performed with him on “Falling Slowly,” the song from the 2006 movie that earned them an Academy Award for “Best Original Song.”

The film was adapted into a musical version that has been running on Broadway since February of this year. The musical won eight Tony Awards this year, including Best Musical.