A Fire in Yer Skull

Today I watched parts of the funeral for Glen Hansard. Bono said that everyone remembers the day they met Glen and then he played a voice memo on his phone from Patti Smith who wrote a little tune recalling the day she met that songbird. Bono said that Glen had 187,321 best friends, and 2,500,000 second best friends - of which I count myself in that latter number.

The legacy of Glen might not be exactly what he hoped. He wanted to write ten good songs, and surely he did, but his greater legacy emerges in how he made all of us feel - that we mattered and deeply belonged in his imaginary pub, singing songs together til our voices ran out.

I met Glen in 2013 at the Music Now Festival in Cincinnati and upon being introduced, the first thing he said to brunette me with his Irish lilt was “Ya gotta fire in yer skull!!!” and so I too never forgot the first day I met Glen Hansard.

Filmed by Derrick Belcham A Story Well Told, featuring Glen, Bryce Dessner, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Thomas Bartlett, Richard Reed Parry, Little Scream & your own shy country singer with brunette hair. If you know the name of the bass player, shout it out.

That day in Cincinnati was not however the first time I had witnessed Glen. On Nov. 17th, 2000 I was asked to play a Jeff Buckley Tribute at Uncommon Ground in Chicago. I was one of the later players as I was performing “Dream Brother” from Jeff’s album Grace, and at the very last minute, just as the evening was winding down with treasured B Sides, into the tiny room rushed a breathless Glen Hansard who had suffered some airline trials. He nonetheless managed to be the gift of our evening.

I had never heard of Glen or The Frames, but quickly fell under his spell as he told us how he met Jeff and how lovely he was. His storytelling had us all wrapped around his pinky before he could dig more of a hole into that acoustic guitar of his.

I didn’t remember the songs he played, but I remember how he made me feel. The internet says he played his own tribute to Jeff, “Neath the Beeches” followed by a whispered then raging “Mojo Pin.” At some point during one of those songs, he broke a string, because he was playing so dang fast and hard. Then he managed to rewind that same wire right in front of us, looping it up, then zipping it back through the guitar bridge and carried on playing upon that broken-now-mended string. I’d never seen anyone either play that fast nor fix their flat so quickly without skipping a beat.

My dear friend & long-time collaborator Earl Harvin played drums with The Frames and Glen. Earl is credited for playing on Dance the Devil (‘99), “Lowly Deserter” (2015), This Wild Willing (2019), All That Was East Is West Of Me Now (2023). When they were last in Michigan, Glen invited me to sing some of my songs in his set (who does that??!?!?!) and so Earl and I scratched our heads as to which MBD songs we had that were open enough for others to join. Our songs always have some weird extra bar here or there. The two of us kind of get off on making a tune out of a deceptive time signature, but that pleasure is not very friendly for jam-alongs admittedly.

That night at the Royal Oak Music Hall in 2018, we played “So Easy” as a duo (yes, in Glen’s set, again I say - who does that??!?!?!) and then his band joined us for “Another Chance” which has only one extra bar of 2/4 hidden in the chorus. Beforehand, I filmed some of Glen’s soundcheck from side-stage, cause anytime I see/hear Earl in any context- I get ideas for our Next Thing. I’m also proud as a peacock of him, so if the mix is a little drum heavy, you know why. Here’s a view only I had, but now we can share. I stitched them together for you. Selfless. He made me part of his pub.

One of the last times I saw Glen he told me that I’d told him to take an ibuprofen to help his vocal inflammation. There was no amount of ibuprofen that could have helped after all the gritty wailing he did, but I was taken aback that he had remembered me saying that to him, … and I worried that I might have accidentally over-prescribed to my patient. How many years? How many nights had he taken those repeatedly??? But he looked and sounded jolly and well, I assessed.

We all loved it when he growled and trashed his voice. It was the thing that pushed his performances over the edge, the visceral urgency and we felt him give the song more than anyone could give. We felt the desperation too. We felt the claw and determination of his voice to reach that climb. I therefore could never, nor would ever have suggested that he stop that screaming, even though it cost him to do so. I’d over-prescribed water, rest and ibuprofen instead.

This tiny example is how, after not seeing Glen for years, he could come up to ya and say, “I’ve been taking ibuprofen ever since you told me to!” when you’d forgotten you’d ever told him to take anti-inflammatories in the first place. Thus he could make 2½ million people feel like they were one of his second best-friends, and I tearfully count myself in that number. May he now delight in the space where the songs never end. We love you, Glen.

The fire-skulled one shall, with extra measures for pleasure, be playing here soon:

Sat Aug 22 NY, NY Joe’s Pub Bring Me The Workhorse 20th anniversary shows, with Joel Shearer (guitar), Chris Bruce (bass) & Chris St. Hilaire (drums)

Thur Sept 24 Minneapolis, MN Walker Art with Nels Cline & Yuka Honda

Sun Sept 27 Ypsilanti, MI Freighthouse with band Justin Snyder (piano), Marion Hayden (bass) & Joe Becker (drums).

Sat Oct 11 - Sun Oct 12 Berlin, DE People festival 180 musicians gather. It’s all a surprise what happens.

////// SHHHH After that me n Earl are gonna record our Next Thing for a couple days. TOP SECRET BUSINESS. shhhhhhhhhhh //////