Six years ago, Glen Hansard and his veteran band The Frames showed up at Club Cafe just before showtime seeming somewhat disheveled and out of breath.

It didn't take long, though, for Hansard to settle in and then mesmerize the assembled crowd with the naked emotion of his songs and dynamics that went from a whisper to a roar.

That night, Hansard seemed too big for the room. And yet, it was impossible to picture the shaggy former Irish busker as a guy who later would be stepping up to the podium to collect his Oscar.

That occurred earlier this year when "Falling Slowly," a song Hansard and partner Marketa Irglova wrote and performed for the indie hit "Once," trumped three songs from "Enchanted" and one from "August Rush" to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Hansard, the ultimate Oscar outsider, hit the stage saying, "This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad."

He's still stunned by the turn of events and has described it as trying to kick a ball across your yard and having it clear the fence and land in the river.

"When Cillian Murphy was attached [to 'Once'] I thought, 'Great, maybe more people are going to get a chance to hear my songs,' but that was the extent," he says in an e-mail interview. "It was still a modest movie at that point. After he pulled out it went from modest to 'This doesn't stand a chance outside of some Frames fans.' So, yes, we were all surprised and amazed by the success of 'Once.' Every day still it feels like a ripple effect where someone else or something else happens based on this movie."

"Once" was a triumph not only for Hansard and Irglova, but former Frames bassist John Carney, who wrote and directed the indie film that was made for approximately $150,000 and has grossed more $16 million worldwide. Carney played with Hansard in The Frames between 1991 and 1993, while the band was still on a major label.

Having been dropped from a label, Hansard was primed to play the down-on-his-luck musician role. The frontman, who had a small role in "The Commitments," starred as a thirtysomething busker and vacuum repairman in Dublin who befriends a shy Czech flower seller. Unlike in Hollywood, the romance never blooms as one might expect, due to their age difference and commitments to other people.

Musically, though, it's a sublime pairing, producing acoustic rock treasures with supple and occasionally soaring harmonies.

Meanwhile, the story off the screen was veering from the script. The 38-year-old Hansard and 20-year-old Irglova, who had first worked together on the 2006 album "The Swell Season," started falling for each other and eventually gave in to the romance.

Hansard says their initial connection, personally and musically, is very much like the magical little scene in the music store.

"We did connect right away, and it was very much like what you see in the film. Our characters in the film are not that different than what we are like in real life ... I think John Carney saw that in us and used it to his benefit. When we couldn't get a scene like the 'bus scene,' he said improvise and sing a song and thus 'Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy' was born."

Now, they're on what he calls "a victory lap" as a real-life couple, playing to sold-out crowds he never dreamed of in the States. Hansard said backstage at the Oscars that a year before the award, he and Irglova played a piano bar in New York to 75 people. Their return trip would be playing the 6,000-capacity Radio City Music Hall.

The success has been rather jarring for someone who had been focused more on music than celebrity.

"It's more difficult than I imagined. Our private lives got turned upside down and there has been no stopping the amount of work we've continued to do. That said, in no way am I complaining as it's the most amazing thing to happen to us ever. But, yes, it is a challenge on all aspects of your life."

Hansard, righteous lad that he is, is bringing The Frames along as backing band, which means crowds are also getting Frames songs like "True" (from 2003's "The Cost") and "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops," from the Steve Albini-produced album "For the Birds" (my pick for the best album of 2001).

Hansard is working on new albums for both the Frames and the Swell Season.

Is there a way he can parlay the success of one into the other?

"I certainly hope so," he says. "We're painfully aware that this did not happen to The Frames, but to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. With that said, it would be great if we could keep a portion of this audience along for the next few years on whatever road we travel. I realize there are folks that are just hear to see the 'Once' people, but hopefully we can win them over and, more importantly, I think, there are a lot of new fans of our music. It's those folks in particular we want to see take the journey with us. At the end of the day these songs are my songs and if you like them then chances are you'll like them presented in another form as well."