Hamell on Trial | |
|---|---|
 Hamell on Trial at home in Austin, Texas in 2023. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Punk rock, anti-folk |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Righteous Babe |
Edward James "Ed" Hamell, performing as Hamell on Trial, is an American punk rock, anti-folk, spoken word musician, described by Righteous Babe Records as "loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy and intelligence, played by a guy with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor". [1]
Born in Syracuse, New York, Hamell spent years as a member of many bands before venturing into the realm of the solo singer-songwriter. He finally got his big break when he moved to Austin, Texas and earned a residency at first the Chicago House and then the Electric Lounge. [2]
Since then, he has released a number of albums on various labels, including Mercury Records, his own DiY label Such-A-Punch Media, and Righteous Babe Records, the label started by his longtime supporter and frequent touring companion, Ani Difranco. Ed has a son named Detroit, born in 2002. Detroit performed on Ed's album The Happiest Man in the World . [3] Hamell was seriously injured in a car accident in May 2000, but recovered from head and spinal injuries to release the album Ed's Not Dead: Hamell Comes Alive the following year. His touring covers the US, Europe, Scandinavia and Australia.
In 2008, with the breakup of his 22-year marriage, Hamell wrote a song a day for a year and posted a video of it on his YouTube channel hamelltv. It is now over 450 songs.
In 2014 Hamell signed to New West Records and released The Happiest Man in the World. He began production on a one-man show with the same title based on the album and the demise of his marriage to be world premiered at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2014.
In 2017, Hamell released his second album for New West Records, Tackle Box. In August of that year, Hamell streamed a selection of songs performed live at monuments around Washington, DC, in a series collectively called "Hamell Takes DC."
In 2018, Hamell composed the music and lyrics for the Columbus, Ohio based Shadowbox Live's play F#(K Cancer: The Musical.
Hamell addresses poignant and controversial issues, but with a comic edge. Known for rapid and powerful strumming on his heavily amplified 1937 Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar, Hamell's musical styling is as far from traditional folk music as it is from the typical drum-heavy electric guitar ridden sounds of traditional punk music. "Hamell’s signature sound comes from his strumming with maximum aggression, tight to the bridge, which lends a metallic ring to a sustained and percussive low-end rumble," writes Randal Doane, in a profile in Harper's. "Hamell also plays slide guitar lines sweetly drenched with the timbre and phrasing of his musical forebears of the Mississippi Delta. 'I’m a Libra,' he told me last fall, over coffee. 'I need the balance.'" [4]
His sound and composition is comparable to that of the Velvet Underground. Live performances also include extended jokes and comic anecdotes between songs, demonstrating Hamell's respect for the stand-up comedy of Bill Hicks, who is celebrated in the closing tracks of Hamell's album Choochtown.
May 2007 – inducted into the SAMMY (Syracuse Area Music Awards) Hall of Fame
Aug 2007 – Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
May 2009 – Conveyor Awards of Excellence for Best Story Telling – Non-Theatrical & Best Musical Moments at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival
July 2009 – Directors' Award at the Capital Fringe Festival
Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influences from punk, funk, hip hop and jazz. She has released all her albums on her own record label, Righteous Babe.
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.
Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman with his theatrical style, influencing the artistic direction of Queen.
John Graham Mellor, known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer-songwriter and musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash's second studio album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978) reached No. 2 on the UK charts. Soon after, they achieved success in the US, starting with London Calling (1979) and peaking with Combat Rock (1982), which reached No. 7 on the US charts and was certified 2× platinum there. The Clash's explosive political lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude had a far-reaching influence on rock music in general, especially alternative rock. Their music incorporated reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, and rockabilly.
The Runaways were an American all-female rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", "Hollywood", "Queens of Noise" and a cover version of the Velvet Underground's "Rock & Roll". Never a major success in the United States, the Runaways became a sensation overseas, especially in Japan, thanks to the single "Cherry Bomb".
Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label that was created by folk singer Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company.
The 101ers were a pub rock band from the 1970s playing mostly in a rockabilly style, notable as being the band that Joe Strummer left to join The Clash. Formed in London in May 1974, the 101ers made their performing debut on 7 September at the Telegraph pub in Brixton, under the name 'El Huaso and the 101 All Stars'. The name would later be shortened to the '101 All Stars' and finally just the '101ers'. The group played at free festivals such as Stonehenge, and established themselves on the London pub rock circuit prior to the advent of punk.
Lach is an American singer-songwriter associated with the anti-folk movement. As a songwriter, Lach founded the anti-folk art and music movement, which is cited as a main inspiration by contemporary performers like Beck, Jeffrey Lewis, Hamell on Trial, The Moldy Peaches and Regina Spektor in the US and Laura Marling in the UK. Lach has released six albums, a book of poetry, and has a regular series on BBC Radio 4 called The Lach Chronicles.
Streetcore is the third and final studio album by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros. The album was completed after the death of frontman Joe Strummer, primarily by Martin Slattery and Scott Shields, and released on 21 October 2003. The album marks the band's transition from their previous genre-bending work to a more straightforward rock album, reminiscent of Strummer's early work with the Clash. The album received a positive critical reception and is generally seen as a return to form and a high point for Strummer to have gone out on.
Tripod are an Australian musical comedy trio founded by Scod, Yon and Gatesy in 1996. They provide original songs and harmonies, strung together by comic banter.
Michael Geoffrey Jones is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the co-founder of the Clash, and as that group's guitarist until 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the band Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James since 2002 and was part of the Gorillaz live band for a world tour in 2010–2011. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.
"(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a 7-inch single, with the b-side "The Prisoner", on 16 June 1978 through CBS Records.
Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but also plays the viola and banjo. Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, Lakeman has belonged to several musical ensembles, including one with his two brothers, fellow folk musicians Sam Lakeman and Sean Lakeman, but has most recently established himself as a solo act.
Rod Bernard was an American singer who helped to pioneer the musical genre known as "swamp pop", which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and Cajun and black Creole music. He is generally considered one of the foremost musicians of this south Louisiana-east Texas idiom, along with such notables as Bobby Charles, Johnnie Allan, Tommy McLain, and Warren Storm.
Nick Pynn is a British musician and composer noted for his use of bass pedals and live looping with electroacoustic stringed instruments. He has been described as an ‘avant folk’ artist, whose early interests were in world folk and experimental music.
William Zach "Zac" Harmon is an American blues musician from Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Harmon was signed to Toronto's NorthernBlues Music until 2015, when he announced his signing to San Francisco–based Blind Pig Records.
Benjamin Scheuer is an American songwriter, guitar player, and singer, based in London and New York City.
Robert Jason Sherman, known as Robbie Sherman, is an American songwriter based in London. He was born in Los Angeles to Joyce and Robert B. Sherman, the youngest of four siblings. Stemming from a long line of songwriters and composers, spanning more than four generations, at 16 Sherman became one of the youngest songwriters ever invited to join BMI and is an alum of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He is perhaps best known for his work on Love Birds: The Musical, which premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Happiest Man in the World is an album by American folk punk musician Hamell on Trial, released on February 25, 2014, on New West Records.
Big as Life is an album by the American anti-folk musician Hamell on Trial, released in 1994. It was put out by Doolittle Records, and picked up by Mercury the following year. "Sugarfree" was released as a single.
 | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines.(March 2020) |
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
