The Camaraderie perform: Sarah and Ben on stage

Click on the image to see a larger one.
Sorry about the white eyes;
I ran out of time to correct them.

Last night, the Broad Street Cafe in Durham hosted the debut of Ben and Sarah performing on stage together. Ben's "group," the Camaraderie, has been for some time him and any other people he happens to be working with at the time. (You can pick up his debut EP here; I recommend it.) Last night, Sarah joined Ben as part of the group.

Ben played guitar and was the lead singer. He also wrote most, if not all, of the songs. Sarah, as you can see in my not-very-good iPhone photo, played violin and sang back-up. They did a half-hour set as the opener for another act.

They were very good. As I always do in clubs, I wanted the sound mix to emphasize the vocals more, but even with the more or less standard mix they received, the sound was good. I knew most but not all of the songs from either the EP or hearing Ben perform them on his own, but they were newly interesting for the inclusion of the violin. Had I not known either of the performers, I still would have enjoyed the show.

Of course, with one of them being my daughter, I enjoyed it even more. I was proud, as you'd expect me to be, but it was more than that. As I do with Sarah's writing, I took a special joy and pride in seeing her pursue an art that she is passionate about. I couldn't help but at times feel again as I have over the years, watching her perform in an orchestra or walk on stage at school, that my body wasn't big enough or strong enough to contain my feelings, that everyone around me would see and be embarrassed by the sheer intensity of the love and pride I felt for Sarah. No one noticed, of course, but parents everywhere understand what I mean. Our children don't get it, not really, not yet; how could they? If they one day have their own children, though, then perhaps they will think of how we felt about them when their own feelings threaten to overcome them.

I was so very, very proud and happy for Sarah, and for Ben.

At the end, they sang a tune about living apart and getting to see each other only occasionally. They've held their relationship together over two years of that and then another semester while Sarah was abroad, and the joy they took in this song and in those days being behind them was evident in the performance.

Ben and Sarah will be playing at least a few more gigs locally over the coming months. I'll alert you about them here. If you get a chance, go see them. You'll be glad you did.