Glen Hansard is a high-stakes player. It’s never just a gig for him: He appears to venture his full emotional store every time he takes the stage, putting it all on the line for the audience’s benefit. This holds true even at a small show like his solo acoustic engagement tonight at Housing Works, maybe more so. Hansard was in a jovial mood, lots of grinning jokes between numbers, but his songs are deeply felt, and he didn’t sell them short. After about an hour, he brought out Markéta Irglová as a special guest, and the former couple joined their voices once again on “Falling Slowly” and “When Your Mind’s Made Up” and “If You Want Me.” Markéta said that after seeing the Once musical on Broadway three times, she’s starting to feel like those songs belong to someone else, but who was she kidding? They’ll always be hers and Glen’s.

Update: I spoke with Glen about Once’s Tony wins, his new solo LP, learning from Bruce Springsteen and more. Read it here.