Why Glen Hansard Will be Remembered

In Memory of a True Artist.

First of all, I can’t believe what I am typing: Glen Hansard is dead.

There are so many things we take for granted. Our favourite artists will always have a new record to release, a new movie coming out. Of course we understand that, one day, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan will die -- we just hope it isn’t soon.

But Glen Hansard was 56. And he has a three year old kid.

What made him special was that he lived IN THE MOMENT. He was truly alive.

If you ever saw him perform in concert, he gave you everything he had. Sometimes it was transcendent, other times maybe he was exhausted, but you’d see him fight through it.

No two sets were ever the same.

No two live versions of the same song were ever identical.

He wasn’t chasing fame. When Hansard and Markéta Irglová won the Oscar for ‘Falling Slowly’ he never felt truly comfortable with the attention. A few years after the movie, there was a documentary, ‘The Swell Season’, that showed how tortured Hansard was by the fame and complexities of his relationships.

But as the years passed, he grew into being himself. He became an elder. He may not be as old as Jagger and Dylan, but he had the hard worn knowledge. He knew how to craft a beautiful song.

I have so many memories of Glen Hansard. Shepherds Bush Empire 2016 is one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. I also saw him at The Barbican and had a rough night because the guy to my right was on his phone the entire time (it was seated and sold out - I had nowhere to go).

I travelled to Ireland to see him at Vicar Street (so glad I did) and I saw him support Eddie Vedder, in the very early days of their bromance.

The very first song I ever put on a mix for my now wife was ‘Low Rising’.

He cared about Irish music. He cared about independent music. He cared about the artistry. And he cared about people. He was known for organising charity busking events on Grafton Street, most famously at Christmas and New Year’s.

He lived in the moment. Here he is on stage with Bruce Springsteen. Look at the joy in his face, beautiful.

Also, poignant, because the last thing he posted to Instagram before his death was a memory of performing with The Boss.

I remember a podcast interview with him many years ago, where he appeared tired of the fame and of people wanting a selfie. But the night before the podcast he was in a sushi restaurant talking to a guy who had no idea who he was. He loved it because he got to be purely in the moment - having a real conversation - not having to deal with his own ego.

That’s why his gigs were so memorable. He was there - truly there - focused inextricably in the present tense.

I thought there would be many more years of that present tense. He is a hugely influential artist for me and for many people. And as we remember him, we remember to stay in the here and now, for as long as we possibly can.