Ed Hamell steps out of the shadows

Ed Hamell has been hiding in plain sight. "I haven’t released an album in six years. But I’ve been on YouTube. I decided that I would write a song every day for a year and put it online."

His motive was practical rather than artistic. “I was trying to stay sober,” say the songwriter, who performs punk and “anti-folk” as Hamell on Trial. “I needed a way not to be idle. This was the best method.”

Hamell, a sardonic writer compared to everyone from The Moldy Peaches to iconic stand-up Lenny Bruce, has been through a period of crisis and still bears the scars. In 2011 his wife of 23 years left him. He was devastated — too shocked to tour or record.