I got to Ted�s around 10-ish. It was early January, so I naturally assumed that most listeners would be home on the couch, avoiding the cold, and lounging in a stupor of post-holiday sloth. It was also a Monday, hardly the night that clubgoers choose to party into the wee hours. Beyond that, songwriters-in-the-round shows are extremely common in town, and there was nothing particularly exceptional about this one. I expected to see perhaps 30 people there.

Imagine my incredibly pleasant surprise when I found a standing-room-only crowd. Imagine the surprise of the musicians themselves! I later discovered that people had begun lining up at 8:30 p.m. for a 9:30 start, and that even more were queued up on the stairs between sets, waiting for first-set attendees to leave and make room.

As the evening progressed, it became evident that "This Is Pop" is everything a writers-in-the-round gig is supposed to be.

The audience was huge, but very attentive and receptive. The ideal for this sort of gig is that each artist draws his or her own crowd, and it adds up to a packed house. This time, it actually came true, perhaps because any one of these acts, with their own bands, could fill the venue. Certainly, each of them attracts a listening crowd, instead of those who�d rather drink too much and talk too loud. (Both acceptable activities in a club, just not appropriate when attendees are trying to actually listen.) What a pleasure to witness an acoustic performance in a full club and not have to hear anybody being �shushed.�

The show was a fount of new and unexpected material. Both Mia and Danny debuted brand new songs. Hers was so fresh that Graham had to play human music-stand, holding up a sheet of handwritten lyrics; his was an aching, yearning Christmas song, written in the wake of his performance at Tamara Williamson�s seasonal party at The Rivoli last month. Maury showcased Jeremy Robinson�s excellent song, �The Terminal,� a sadly beautiful anthem for anyone creative who�s had to work a shit job just to get by. Andy debuted his newest song, �One Day,� about a dream of the earth standing still, humankind singing in one voice, with no shyness or fear.

Sonically, the show provided a true sense of community. Maury and Graham play together in The Supers; Danny and Maury, in Starling, and in Danny�s own Wedding Band; Maury has played bass with Mia before; and Danny has toured with Andy. All of this cross-fertilization creates the kind of musical intimacy that allows each player to ease their way into each other�s material with great sensitivity, playing stuff that was unerringly right for each song.

The show was funny, too -- especially the between-song shenanigans. Andy and Danny told the story of their accommodations after a West Coast gig, when they had to sleep in a roomful of stuffed animals, since they happened to be staying at the home of a taxidermist. The standing grizzly bear at Danny�s feet was a bit much for him. Later, when the performers jokingly prodded the audience for questions, one overly-refreshed fellow barked out an incoherent �Hey Danny, beer drink!,� Mia responded with, �That�s not really a question. You see, that should be �Beer Drink?,� with your voice going up at the end.� It brought the house down.

The second Monday of the series, on January 15th, was no less magical, with Andy joined by Kurt Swinghammer, Jian Ghomeshi (of Moxy Fr�vous), Bob Snider, Jason Collette and Ron Sexsmith, who was the biggest draw. With word of mouth and much positive press, it was once again a packed and respectful house.

It was yet another unexpected pleasure to discover Jason, who sings in a voice not unlike Richard Ashcroft, strums with passion and fire, and writes songs about Henry Miller, The Clash, style revolution and romantic dissolution. Kurt said he was �on a writing rampage� lately, and played a batch of excellent new songs from a project tentatively titled �Black-Eyed Susan.� Jian babbled away, reading excerpts from an unbelievable letter that Starbucks wrote to him in response to his public criticisms of their corporation. Ron, who hopes to release his Steve Earle-produced album in the spring, played songs so new (and stunning, as usual) that they probably won�t turn up until the album after that. Andy half-joked that everybody in the audience should call local radio station CFNY (The Edge 102.1) the next day and ask for one of Ron�s songs, which brought big laughs and cheers. It all ended with an impromptu, singalong cover of The Police�s �Message In A Bottle� that was great fun.

On a personal level, since I used to be his manager, it made me unutterably pleased to see Bob Snider win over a jam-packed roomful of brand new fans - so much so that the applause he earned was as long and loud as that offered to Ron Sexsmith, the nominal �star� of the show.

"This Is Pop" is a little miracle, one of those rare and copacetic events where everybody wins. The performers get to play, for decent pay, to a full house of people who are listening to every word and note. The audience gets to see a fun, warm and intimate show, with new and unexpected material, and discover artists that they�ve never seen or heard before. Yvonne Matsel, who runs Ted�s Wrecking Yard, gets to fill her club on usually-dead Monday nights, in the usually-dead month of January. Everybody leaves the place enriched, with a heart fuller than it was when they came in, and feeling a sense of community from having been there. And that, as I�ve often said before in this space, is the ultimate potential of live, local music.

Not to make a mountain out of a molehill, but this could be the start of something even bigger, if Andy wants it to be. A one-day festival in the summer, perhaps? Maybe a compilation CD? I wonder if CBC radio, or even television, might be prompted to put together a one-hour special? Or if FACTOR or The Canada Council might finance a cross-country tour?

As long as greater exposure doesn�t spoil the spirit of the thing, here�s hoping, because something this special really ought to be shared.