There was a lovely crowd of all ages enjoying music at RockN' Joe on Saturday, but it wasn't just one performer. It was an event of exchanging original music.

It was standing room only at Rockin' Joes on Main Street for the monthly Song Swap. Friends Deena Shoshkes, of Millburn, and Rebecca Tuner, of Springfield, started the monthly Song Swap two years ago.

"Both Rebecca and I had the same idea at the same time, to get together with other local musicians,"  Shoshkes said. "There's a great community of musicians around here, we've all made a lot of friends."

Its original home was the late Café Meow on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood. When Café Meow closed, the swap moved to Maplewood's 1978 Gallery, also on Springfield Avenue. That space was great, but Shoshkes said, "there was no food."  Luckily RockN' Joes offered to host upcoming swaps while serving a variety of hot drinks and desserts.

Alex Silberman, Andrew Ceccon, David Jacobson, Jay Everett, Dave Kleiner and Tom Lucas were featured at Saturday's swap. Their songs were a mixed bag with tunes about love and travel, therapy and the local supermarket's bulletin board. There was a song about Yoko Ono and another about Christmas in Jersey City as well as a love song to a rabbi.

All musicians followed the rule that the music played was all original. It was a win-win afternoon with the audience enjoying a free-of-charge concert while the musicians  debuted and fine-tuned their songs.

Mary Gallagher of Maplewood was there to enjoy the music. "I heard that there was going to be live music here today, but I didn't picture it so crowded," she said. "I didn't get as close to the music as I would have liked.  It's great that so many people showed up.  I'm definitely coming back to another Song Swap, and next time I'll come earlier to get a better spot."

Alex Silberman snagged some prime seats with his two sons, Max, a 14-year-old Millburn High student, and Jack, 10, who attends Wyoming School. "I organized the recent 'Rock the House' in South Orange" he said.  "We raised money for a food pantry and other local not-for-profits.  I invited Deena to play then, and she invited me here today." Silberman, whose day job is at Keller Williams real estate, is part of a rock group called Test Patterns.  Saturday was his first solo appearance.

"Our next swap will be on Feb. 20 at the new Hat City Kitchen in Orange, which is opening any day now," Shoshkes said. "We'll be joining in with Chris Butler, whose song 'The Devil's Glitch' is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest pop song. Chris will be there, and we'll all be adding to his song making it even longer."

Her husband Jon Fried added, "Days like today make me really proud of the local music scene. It used to be pretty scattered and now, well, Millburn is cool."