Takamine

Glen continues to tour worldwide with The Swell Season and of course, the members of The Frames. We asked Glen where his guitar is when he’s not on tour. His answer, “with me ... always.”

Writing and Recording

The Frames recorded nine albums (including two live albums) over the next 15 years. The Swell Season has recorded two albums, the most recent being the 2010 release, “Strict Joy” (ANTI). Glen and Markéta Inglová also wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the movie, “Once,” including the Oscar-winning song, “Falling Slowly.” When asked how many Frames, Swell Season and soundtrack albums he wrote and recorded with The Horse, Glen answered simply, “All of them.”

At the Movies

In 1991 Glen took on a natural film role, playing guitarist “Outspan” Foster in “The Commitments” – a classic “boy joins band; band rockets to brink of success; band breaks up in acrimony” story and one of the great music films of all time.

In the mid-2000s, Glen partnered with Czech singer and classical musician, Markéta Irglová to form The Swell Season. This musical excursion became another film adventure when former Frames member, John Carney asked Glen and Mar to appear in his film “Once.” The low-budget story of a Dublin busker and an immigrant street vendor became an international hit. The unlikely success was made complete when Glen and Markéta won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly.” Glen, Mar and The Horse performed the song live on the Oscar telecast in February of 2008.

The World and Elsewhere

We asked Glen to list the continents and countries where he and The Horse have toured: “That’s a tough question to answer. Many, many: UK, USA, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, France, Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark – I’m sure I left a few out.”