The Swell Season

The Swell Season are an Academy Award winning folk rock duo. The members are Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Hansard is a member of the Irish band The Frames. Irglova is a classically trained Czech pianist and singer. The duo won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2008.

The Swell Season
Hansard and Irglová, in Derry, Northern Ireland, in April 2006
Background information
Also known as	Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Indie folk folk rock
Years active	2005–2011, 2015 (one-off) 2022 (reunion tour)
Labels	Plateau, ANTI-, Spunk, Sony
Past member(s)	Glen Hansard Markéta Irglová
Website	www.theswellseason.com

The Swell Session made their first album, The Swell Season, in 2006. It was just after the release of the Frames' sixth CD, The Cost. Hansard and Irglová also appeared as working-class immigrants in the popular Irish movie, Once. The movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. The next year, they won the Academy Award for Best Song for the song "Falling Slowly" from that movie . Hansard is the first Irish-born person to win in that category. Irglová is the first Czech woman to win an Oscar. At age 19, she became the youngest person to win an Oscar in a musical category. The soundtrack, Once: Music from the Motion Picture, was certified as gold in February 2008. They went on tour and performed to sold-out crowds in many countries. Hansard and Irglová also recorded a version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for the movie I'm Not There in 2007.

During the tour, Hansard and Irglová began dating. Hansard said, "I had been falling in love with her for a long time, but I kept telling myself she's just a kid". In 2009, Hansard said that he and Irglova were no longer romantically linked, and that they are now "good friends."

Oscar ceremony

Hansard and Irglová performed "Falling Slowly" live on the Oscar broadcast at Los Angeles' Kodak Theater on February 24, 2008. When they went on stage to receive their awards, Irglova's acceptance speech was stopped by the orchestra's music cue to leave the stage. Host Jon Stewart asked her back to give her speech after the commercial break. Ceremony director Gil Cates said the early cue was an accident.

Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just the proof that no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.”

— Marketa Irglova, 2008 Academy Award ceremony