Take a picture of The Frames, and hang it on the wall.

Credit: Ben Breier

Few musicians actually get picked up off of the street and thrown onto a record label, but this was what happened to singer/songwriter Glen Hansard of The Frames, a folk band out of Dublin, Ireland.

Hansard started in professional music when he was discovered on the street .

“Every walk of life passed me by, and every walk of life was going to see me,” said Hansard in a recent phone interview.

Burn the Maps, the latest release by The Frames, came out in February. Hansard said the record is just another step forward for The Frames.

“I don’t think that we’ve ever made a record hopefully thinking that this will be the one,” Hansard said. “We just make a record and wonder what’s next – we feel clear for a period of time, and then life happens. Before you know it, you’ve got another album in your system.”

Although some of the finer details have yet to be flushed out, The Frames are brewing another album in their system.

“The songs are all there, but it isn’t recorded yet,” said Hansard. “The best way for a band to make a record sometimes is to book the release party – once you do that, you’ve got to get stuff done.”

In the meantime, The Frames have been extensively touring through America – something that Hansard finds relatively cathartic, providing he comes across the right landscape.

“Every once in a while, you get a glimpse of the Mark Twain America,” said Hansard. “I’m tired of seeing the Michael Moore America.”

Contact ALL correspondent Ben Breier at [email protected].