Podcast 558: Glen Hansard Remembered

Today, we pay tribute to singer-songwriter Glen Hansard (1970-2026), frontman for the Frames and Swell Season.  In 2009, Fretboard Journal publisher Jason Verlinde sat down with Glen at Seattle's Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub for an hour-long chat about guitars (including his famously worn Takamine), meeting your heroes, busking, and more. Today, we're sharing the audio from that conversation for the very first time.  This interview ended up serving as the cover story for our 17th issue, which we published in 2010. As you'll hear, this was recorded 16 years ago in a busy pub and was not meant to be a podcast. There is plenty of background restaurant noise and the occasional interruption from fans and waitstaff. But we think it paints a nice portrait of a truly unique artist. We hope you enjoy it.  The article that came out of this interview can be found here. We also filmed Glen busking in front of Pike Place Market minutes after this interview. Watch that here. Register for our 2026 Summit: https://fretboardsummit.org/tickets Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal's quarterly print magazine. Issue 60 is just a few weeks away:  https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-annual-subscription We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com  (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout). Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com