Once

MSN Music

Though depictions of many things Irish still tend to favor stereotypes (leprechauns, shamrocks and green beer on St. Patrick's Day), Ireland's older musical cliches have been overtaken since the '60s by a diverse array of styles. Here's a gallery of Irish musicians who've... more made waves beyond the Emerald Isle.

The Swell Season: When The Frames' Glen Hansard went into the studio to record his first solo album, he enlisted young Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová as his musical foil for the project's reflective, nakedly emotional songs. Hansard named the album and its title song after his favorite novel, "The Swell Season" by Josef Škvorkecký. The project's partnership, as well as much of its music, provided the focal point for Frames bassist-turned-film director John Carney's 2007 sleeper hit, "Once," which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song with "Falling Slowly." Hansard and Irglová now tour as the Swell Season, their on-camera chemistry since clinched by a real life personal as well as musical partnership. (Daragh McDonagh / Retna Ltd.)