DRIVING ALL NIGHT:

DRIVING ALL NIGHT: How to Raise a Kid and Survive as a Broke-ass Musician

A one-man show about parenting, written and performed by Ed Hamell

Every parent knows the struggles and triumphs that come with raising their kid. How do you do it when your day job requires you to travel endlessly across the country, stopping nightly to sing protest songs and tell dirty jokes for strangers in crowded dive bars?

Enigmatic folk-punk proletariat and legendary touring musician Ed Hamell—aka Hamell on Trial, winner of the coveted Edinburgh Fringe Festival Herald Angel Award —has driven over a million miles, pinballing across the map over the a career spanning seventeen critically-acclaimed albums. Hundreds of thousands of those miles have been shared with his son Detroit Hamell, who started spending weekends and summers on tour when he was six years old.

The show also explores the tumultuous real life world of a working musician and artistic renegade and features video design and projection by director / producer Mike Henry.

Driving All Night had its world premiere last September at Hyde Park Theatre, with a weekend of packed houses and enthusiastic audiences. One of our favorite post-show Facebook comments read: “I laughed, I got verklempt, I felt nostalgic, I felt hopeful. I had lots of feels. Loved it.”

Every Hamell show is a multidisciplinary experience, with music, theatre, stand-up comedy and storytelling. Armed with a battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar, a politically astute mind that can't stop moving, and a mouth that can be profane one minute and profound the next, Hamell shoots straight with his audience, whether unraveling topical issues or sharing confessional tales from his own past.

Tickets now on sale for four performances of Driving All Night play at Captain Quack’s South on January 24, January 31, February 1 and February 2 as part of FronteraFest 2025’s BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) programming. Tickets are $20. Purchase tickets online or call 512-479-PLAY (7529) for reservations. All shows at 8pm except the February 2 matinee at 5pm. House opens one hour before showtime.

Captain Quack’s South is located at 5326 Menchaca Road. There’s plenty of free parking onsite and the venue features a full bar. A gallery of Hamell’s original paintings will be on display in the venue and available for purchase and signing by the artist after the show.