Marketa Irglová met songwriting partner Glen Hansard in 2001 at a garden party her father hosted for musicians playing at a festival in their hometown on the Eastern fringes of the Czech Republic. She was only 13, and he was in his early 30s, and touring with his band, The Frames.
Over the years, Dublin-born Hansard visited Irglová's family when his band was performing in the Moravian region, and he encouraged her skills as a songwriter. They began to play together in clubs, and in 2003 she appeared on "Star, Star" on The Frames' live release The Breadcrumb Trail.
In 2006, after The Frames had recorded a few songs for the soundtrack to Beauty In Trouble, a film by Czech director Jan Hrebejk, there was time to lay down a few more tracks … which eventually became The Swell Season, Hansard's solo debut. The album features Irglová, as well as Finnish violinist Marja Tuhkanen and French cellist Bertrand Galen.
Soon after, Hansard was asked to compose music for the small indie film, Once, that his former Frames band mate John Carney had written. Hansard suggested Irglová for the lead role, and Carney convinced Hansard to star opposite her after another actor backed out. The pair, who'd known each other for years at this point, didn't need to stretch in the roles of working-class songwriters whose lives touch each other in unexpected ways. The film blossomed from a Sundance Film Festival favorite to a major-league Oscar-nominated break-out. Its soundtrack, an entrancing collection of Hansard/Irglová songs, has captured as much acclaim as the film.
Provenance: Valašské Mezirící, Czech Republic
Latest release: Once: Music From The Motion Picture (2007)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Markéta Irglová
