Hamell On Trial This Friday

Promoted by Willie Meighan (Rollercoaster Records), Ed Hamell arrives in Kilkenny this Friday night for a one-night performance, wedged right in between a string of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

It has been four years since Hamell last set foot in Cleere’s stage and he returns this week with tickets available (if they’re still available) from Rollercoaster Records on Kieran Street, priced €20.

Ed Hamell picked up the guitar at age 7 and started writing songs not long after. In his early 20s, Mr. Hamell was the front man and writer for an original band, but local bands were a dime a dozen in the tough, working class neighborhoods in Syracuse, NY. So he launched a one-man act called “Hamell on Trial.”

Armed with his battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar, Mr. Hamell toured the country, then settled in Austin, Texas, where he found a receptive audience for his esoteric mix of songs and story telling. In 1995, Mercury Records signed him straight out of the SXS Music Conference and released Big as Life and The Chord is Mightier than the Sword.

A few years later, and a move to Brooklyn, NY, brought Mr. Hamell and Ani DiFranco together. He signed with Righteous Babe Records and released Tough Love in 2003, followed by Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs in 2006. Subsequently, he has toured extensively with Ms. DiFranco, and has collaborated with her on several songs.

Performing in and around the New York scene prompted Mr. Hamell to rediscover the roots of his hurricane-force musical style and authentic cutting edge world view. His response, The Terrorism of Everyday Life, is a one-man theatrical show which combines story telling, comedy and songs into a brilliantly outrageous theatrical event. Mr. Hamell explores family, politics, religion and death through his journey as a working musician, man of the street, and father of a young son.

Check out HamellOnTrial.com for more.