Presented by Little Acorn Productions in association with WPKN-FM, New York-based Hamell on Trial plays Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Fri., Dec. 27. The show starts at 7 PM with a set by local rock singer-songwriter Eddie Seville. The cover is $10.
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The musical alias of New York-based anti-folk hero Ed Hamell, Hamell on Trial is a one-man punk band that plays loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy, and intelligence. His caustic tongue and devil-may-care attitude has long been a favorite of anti-establishment musical icons Henry Rollins and Ani DiFranco and the critical elite and incited Rolling Stone to call him “bald, bold and superbad”, describing his signature sound as “attack-dog protest folk and ferocious staccato strumming (think Husker Du on Folkways Records).”
Armed with a battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar he strums like a machine gun, a politically astute mind that can’t stop moving and a mouth that can be profane one minute and profound the next, Hamell sets his sights on some classic subjects (sex, drugs, and rock and roll) and some personal ones, too. His performances invoke thoughts of the great rebellious comedians and social commentators of the past: Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, and even a bit of Kurt Vonnegut. Hamell is a great mind; acoustic punk rock mixed with a traveler's soul. There’s no way around his obscenity, but in that is a willingness to fight for the freethinkers of the world. Hamell On Trial is a refreshing punk rock bomb on the unsuspecting folk singer-songwriter world and above all else a preacher of common sense and truth.
His ninth album, The Happiest Man In The World, has just been released on the prestigious New West Records. The album sees Hamell still as uncompromising, fearless, insightful, absurd, hysterical and as poignant as he was when he descended upon the music world with his debut 25 years ago. It features collaborations with Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches and longtime friend and mentor Ani DiFranco.
Eddie Seville is an American songwriter who’s written songs released on Island/Atlantic and Universal Records, as well as music aired on the top three US television networks and HBO. His ability to cross musical genres with raw honesty and lyrical depth while maintaining a distinctive sound has made him a respected figure among contemporary writers and performers. As a solo artist, a multi-instrumentalist, and an occasional bandleader, he's logged a million miles of theater, roadhouse, and folk stops around the continental US, Europe, and Canada.