A prolific independent songwriter, Gillen has released seven full-length solo CDs and two solo e.p.s, two CDs with the traveling hootenanny Hope Machine, and one CD with the duo Gillen & Turk. He has toured all over the U.S., Ireland, Germany, and Czech Republic and has built a devoted, cult following everywhere he's gone. He's received a NY Foundation For The Arts grant and his music has been played on independent radio all over the world and has appeared on national television on All My Children (ABC) and NYC Soundtracks (MSG Network.) He has recently released his first live CD "Live In The Heartland Of America," recorded at a house concert in Muncie, Indiana during a midwest tour in 2010. He'll be performing with his band featuring Eric Puente: drums, Jeff Eyrich: bass, and Catherine Miles: vocals.
On May 15, 2007, the Texas House of Representatives honored the music of Texas-born singer-songwriter Glenna Bell with a House Resolution, which was read in a ceremony at the Capitol on the Floor of the House in Austin. House Speaker Tom Craddick was in attendance, and personally congratulated Miss Bell for her musical contributions to the Lone Star State. A true Daughter of Texas, Glenna Bell’s ancestors have been traced to the early days of the Republic and Texas’ battle for independence. She grew up in the east Texas lumber towns of Pineland and Lumberton, where she rode in rodeos and lived the real country life before heading to college at Texas A&M University, then on to Venice, California to become a theater critic and eventually a playwright, who studied with the legendary Edward Albee at the University of Houston’s exclusive Creative Writing Program.
