Hammel On Trial w/Billy Orphan

It's the long waited return of the Troubadour of terror. This is the sound if Woody Guthrie, Bill Hicks, and the Clash were all rolled into one!

Ed Hamell picked up the guitar at age 7 and started writing songs not long after. In his early 20s, Mr. Hamell was the front man and writer for an original band, but local bands were a dime a dozen in the tough, working class neighborhoods in Syracuse, NY. So he launched a one-man act called "Hamell on Trial."

Armed with his battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar, Mr. Hamell toured the country, then settled in Austin, Texas, where he found a receptive audience for his esoteric mix of songs and story telling. In 1995, Mercury Records signed him straight out of the SXSW Music Conference and released Big as Life and The Chord is Mightier than the Sword.

A few years later, and a move to Brooklyn, NY, brought Mr. Hamell and Ani DiFranco together. He signed with Righteous Babe Records and released Tough Love in 2003, followed by Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs in 2006. Subsequently, he has toured extensively with Ms. DiFranco, and has collaborated with her on several songs.

Performing in and around the New York scene prompted Mr. Hamell to rediscover the roots of his hurricane-force musical style and authentic cutting edge world view. His response, The Terrorism of Everyday Life, is a one-man theatrical show which combines story telling, comedy and songs into a brilliantly outrageous theatrical event. Mr. Hamell explores family, politics, religion and death through his journey as a working musician, man of the street, and father of a young son.

Mr. Hamell was invited to perform at the 2007 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, where The Terrorism of Everyday Life earned five-star reviews in the Metro, Edinburgh Review, and Three Weeks, and was awarded the Festival’s prestigious Herald Angel Award, the highest honor the Festival gives to the most outstanding performance each year.

Find out more about Hamell at his official sites hamellontrial.com and terrorismofeverydaylife.com

Also on the bill the return of Billy Orphan. Billy has been a Racine favorite but has kept an extremely low profile over the years. His blistering humor and sharp wit with the ability to create songs on the spot is uncanny. Don't piss him off you may fall victim to one of those songs. Very excited and proud to be able to get Mr. Orphan out of retirement to play this gig. You will not be disappointed!