Hamell on Trial is a one-man punk band and by punk we mean (mostly) loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy and intelligence, played by a guy with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor. His ninth release, a double-disc set titled Rant & Roll, launches Hamell into new territory, capturing not only an award-winning, hour-long performance, but the Kerouac-esque story of social commentary through years on the road.


Over the course of 2007, Hamell On Trial began moving in a new direction, focusing on the live performance aspect of his music and developing his live set into an hour-long, one-man theatrical production, titled "The Terrorism Of Everyday Life," that mixed political music with stand-up comedy and social commentary told through stories from his life and travels. He honed the act in between stints on the road, and in August 2007 Ed Hamell traveled to Scotland to take his show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the oldest festivals for new and outsider performance art. A week of performances ensued, from which Hamell received a slew of outstanding reviews. Three Weeks raved, "The man may very well be a genius. Obscene, outrageous and brilliant."

Franz Nicolay is that multi-instrumentalist and man-about-town, peddling a modern vaudeville with full-throated songs and stories shamelessly strident, stentorian and more than a little sentimental. He's been a member of cabaret-punk circus World/Inferno Friendship Society, world's best bar band the Hold Steady, gypsy-klezmer carnies Guignol, outlaw orchestra Anti-Social Music, and agit-punks Against Me!; and performed or recorded with everyone from Leftover Crack to Bruce Springsteen. His first story collection, "Complicated Gardening Techniques," was published by Julius Singer Press in 2009.