Edward James "Ed" Hamell, performing as Hamell on Trial, is an American punk rock,

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...

, 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".

Biography

Born in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, 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. 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 Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) 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 influe ...

. Ed has a son named Detroit, born in 2002. Detroit performed on Ed's album ''

The Happiest Man in the World ''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. Critical reception ''American Songwriter''s Hal Horowitz gave ''The Happiest Man in the World'' 3.5 ...

''. 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''.

Style

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 An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, 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.'" 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''.

Discography

* 1989 – ''Conviction'' (Blue Wave) * 1992 – ''Letter to Mike'' (Self-Published, cassette only) * 1996 – ''

Big as Life ''Big as Life'' is an album by the American 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. Hamell on Trial promoted the album by t ...

'' ( Doolittle/Mercury) * 1997 – ''The Chord is Mightier Than the Sword'' (

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

) * 1999 – ''Choochtown'' ( Such-A-Punch Media) * 2001 – ''Ed's Not Dead: Hamell Comes Alive'' ( Such-A-Punch Media) * 2003 – ''Yap'' ( Such-A-Punch Media) * 2003 – ''Tough Love'' ( Righteous Babe Records) * 2006 – ''Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs'' ( Righteous Babe Records) * 2008 – ''Live From Edinburgh: The Terrorism of Everyday Life'' ( Righteous Babe Records) * 2008 – ''Rant and Roll'' ( Righteous Babe Records) * 2014 – ''

'' ( New West Records) * 2017 – ''Tackle Box'' ( New West Records) * 2017 – ''Big Mouth Strikes Again'' ( New West Records) * 2018 – ''The Night Guy at The Apocalypse, Profiles of a Rushing Midnight'' ( Saustex Records) * 2020 – ''The Pandemic Songs'' ( Saustex Records)

Awards and honors

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

References

External links

Hamell On Trial on Righteous Babe Records

Official Website
*

Allmusic guide entry AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...