"A Little Time"

is the title of a new song that my friend Aaron (on the left) wrote and my friend (and son-in-law) Ben (on the right) sang.  You can listen to it here.



It's also my privilege to get to work with these guys.

Enjoy.

Sarah and Ben on swings in the sky

Earlier tonight, a group of us went to the North Carolina State Fair for our annual visit to this rather amazing American and North Carolinian institution.  I must confess to loving it in all of its excess.

It's late, so I'll write my usual State Fair food sampling report another day.  Until then, this picture of Sarah and Ben on the swings ride--you might have to look closely to find them--will have to hold you.

If you're having trouble spotting them, click the image to see a larger version.

A wedding soundtrack

I've needed a while to be ready to write a few blog entries about Sarah's and Ben's wedding, but now I'm there.  I think.

I thought I'd start with a little soundtrack.

The processional songs began with Phil Cook's "Ain't It Sweet," to which parents and grandparents entered.



Ben joined to a song I wholeheartedly believe he deserves, Josh Ritter's "Good Man."  I could not be happier to have Ben in our family, though I feel he's been a part of it for years.



Sarah and I entered--yes, I had the privilege of walking her down the aisle--to Tom Petty's "Wildflowers."  Trite as it is to say, I will never hear this song again without returning to that moment and to a love for Sarah so powerful that I am continually amazed my body can hold it.  The song is true for me: no other will ever compare with Sarah.

Oh, yeah:  we were walking outside, which made it only better.



After the ceremony, the recessional was the lovely "My Whole Life Long," one of many great songs from local wonder Delta Rae.  Sarah, Ben, I, and many others in our extended family all love this group.



At the dinner afterward, Sarah's and Ben's first dance was to a song, "My Favorite Place," from another family favorite, Stephen Kellogg.



Last in what I'll play--the evening contained a great deal more music than what I'm including here--was the song to which I danced with Sarah in the traditional father/daughter dance.  Even typing these words, my feelings about those moments with her are so intense that I am tearing up.  The story behind her choice of this song is a whole blog entry on its own; I may even have written it.  I could write another whole entry about that dance, and maybe I will.

The song was John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith In Me."  I can tell you that from the moment she was born I have had for Sarah all the faith I am capable of mustering, and then some.



I have said it for all of Sarah's life, and I will keep saying it until the day I die:  I have the best daughter in the world, and I am the luckiest father in the world to have her.  I have spent every day since her birth trying to be worthy of her.

My face is now wet, so I have no more to give tonight save this:  Sarah, I will always reward any faith you give me.  I love you.

The Gaslight Anthem deliver the power of rock and roll

Earlier tonight, a group of us that included Sarah and Ben went to the Lincoln Theatre to catch the show by the visiting Gaslight Anthem.  The Lincoln is in some ways quite cool and in others way too grungy, but it'll always be near and dear to me as the place I took Sarah for her first live rock-and-roll concert. 

I very much enjoyed tonight's show.  Lead singer Brian Fallon roared his way through a 90-minute set that, to all of our surprise, did not include an encore. 

Click an image to see a larger version.

When I'm at a rock concert, I forget for at least a few moments, and often for longer, my age, my fatness, my job, everything except the music.  I'm sixteen again, the music pounding through me and letting me know that others share my dreams, that I can do it--whatever it is.  I soak in energy and really am that angry, lonely, horny, artsy, frustrated teenager once again, howling with the music. 

Live music has its own special power, and I can't imagine ever stopping wanting to attend concerts.

I will always love rock and roll.



Photo courtesy of Sarah.

Give a listen

Pop on over to Aaron Dethrage's SoundCloud site and listen to this cover of Kevin Devine's "Just Stay."  Ben's vocals are a treat, and the song is lovely. 

I love that people young and old are always creating new songs and reinterpreting old ones.  I think often of The Count's final speech at the end of Pirate Radio:

Years will come, years will go, and politicians will do fuck all to make the world a better place.

But all over the world, young men and young women will always dream dreams and put those dreams into song.

Nothing important dies tonight. Just a few ugly guys on a crappy ship.

The only sadness tonight is that, in future years, there'll be so many fantastic songs that it will not be our privilege to play.

But, believe you me, they will still be written.

They will still be sung and they will be the wonder of the world.

Indeed, to me, they are.

Lovely song

Check out this cover of The National's song, "I need my girl."



I may be biased, because I know these folks, and the lead singer, Ben, is a friend and colleague, but they did a terrific job with this song.

For comparison purposes, here's The National's video for the original.



Enjoy.

The longest I've smiled in ages

As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, earlier tonight we went to see Sarah and Ben, in their guise as The Camaraderie, play at the Deep South Bar in Raleigh. They were the first of four bands and the only one I had the chance to see. (We had to leave not long after their set due to some previously committed and important early-morning obligations.)

I know I'm biased, but still:  Their half-hour set was great.  I enjoyed every song, they were tight, the mix was well above average for a club, and they made very few missteps.  Each time I hear them, they get better.

Seriously, if you live around here, you'd be doing yourself a favor to catch them any time they're playing out.

The club had also done a good job of turning a somewhat run-down space into a neat performance venue by simply painting the walls solid colors and then writing on those walls snippets of band lyrics in mostly bold, white letters. 

Sarah came up to me before the set to point out that she would be playing on a stage whose front contained a few lines from one of her favorite bands, The Hold Steady.  Check out the writing on the black riser in the lower right of this photo.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

The full text may be hard to read, so here it is:

and I'm pretty sure we kissed
gonna walk around and drink some more

I had to point out to her the Jim Morrison lyrics that you can see in the upper right of this picture.

Yeah, I liked the place.

About halfway through the set, as I was listening to the music and watching them play and sing, I realized I had been smiling for some time.  The smile stayed on my face for almost the whole time they were on the stage.  I realized that seeing my children excel at something they love is a tremendous source of joy for me.  Watching Sarah on that stage was simply wonderful.

You may have noticed that I said the smile was on my face for almost the whole set.   The only time it wasn't came when they finished the song, "The Ladder," and in rapid order I remembered 

My mother loved that song.

My mother would have loved to see this show.

My mother is dead and never will see Sarah and Ben on stage together.  

My vision turned watery for a moment, and my heart felt slow and heavy, but then I recalled the times Mom got to see Sarah perform in orchestra concerts and in recitals.  I reminded myself that Mom loved Sarah and Scott, and she was incredibly proud of them.  She missed this show, and I am sad for that, but she saw a lot. 

I also know for certain that she would have understood exactly how I felt, because even though we couldn't really afford it, she somehow managed to scrape together the funds to take me to see Richard Kiley in the road show of The Man from La Mancha when it came to the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg when I was a teenager.  She and I loved that show, and she gave me a gift that on that night helped define me, that made me always and forever want to be a better man.

Then Sarah and Ben started a new song, my grief retreated to the hole it will probably always occupy in me, and the smile returned to my face. 

Where you should be Friday night, August 10, 2012

(which is tonight as most of you read this) is, if you live in the Research Triangle Park area, the Deep South Bar in Raleigh. The reason is simple: Ben and Sarah will be performing there as The Camaraderie. 

I'll be there to catch their show, so if you come, be sure to say hi.

The concert at our house

Last night, as I've mentioned in a few previous posts, we held at our home a house show featuring Levi Weaver, a fine Nashville musician. Opening for Levi was The Camaraderie, which in its current incarnation is Ben and Sarah. The crowd wasn't as big as we had hoped, but it was still more than two dozen people, which isn't bad.

The show itself was delightful. I know I'm prejudiced, because my daughter is one of the performers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the music these fine folks made for us.

Ben and Sarah opened with a set that included a few numbers I hadn't heard before. As you can see in this iPhone photo--I have to apologize for its poor quality--they were literally playing in front of some bookcases and next to our dog crates (out of the frame on Sarah's right; the dogs were on a sleepover).  Each time I see them perform, they get better.  If you get a chance to catch them, take it.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version of it.

After a bit of a set change and some setup, Levi came onto the stage.

He played for about an hour with songs in a variety of styles, but almost all personal and heartfelt. My favorite by far was "Dark Clay." I would have happily done all the work behind tonight's show for that one song.

Definitely check out Levi's music.  You'll be glad you did.

After the show, many folks bought merch--as they should!--and we put out a ton of desserts:  rich, dark brownies; tart and sweet lemon bars; yummy, chewy cookies; silky and whipped-cream-covered key lime pie; and, of course, six different flavors of ice cream from The Parlour.  

After the show, as Levi was tearing down his gear, we talked about some of those things that always trouble artists of all types:  the quality of your work vs. the fame and/or success it brings you, how those noises in your head only hurt you, how all that really matters in the end is the work.

I'm truly glad we held this show, and I thank Levi, Ben, and Sarah for singing for us.  I wish you all could have been there.

What's going on Wednesday night at my place

In case you've forgotten, this Wednesday night, June 6, a nifty concert will be taking place in my house.

As always, click on the picture to see a neat, higher-res version.

The Camaraderie is, as I've mentioned, Ben's performing group, which right now comprises him and Sarah.  Levi Weaver is a cool Nashville musician whose work I quite enjoy.  I've seen both acts perform, and I'm confident you'll have a fun evening.  Suggested donation, which goes to the musicians, is ten bucks or whatever you can manage; come to the show even if you can't afford to pay.

As an added bonus, you'll get free dessert after the show!

You can't beat a show this good and free dessert on a Wednesday night.  If you're interested in coming, just email leviinraleigh@gmail.com to reserve a spot.  I hope to see lots of folks there!

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.

Some music you should check out

The following is not a paid endorsement; in fact, the people involved might be a little embarrassed about the pimpery I'm about to lay on you. I must, though, confess to extreme bias: the music comes from Ben Azevedo, a great guy who happens to be Sarah's boyfriend, and it includes a song she co-authored and for which she plays piano and sings.

In his not-so-secret identity as the band, The Camaraderie, Ben has created an online EP that you should check out. The site lets you play any of the songs for free, and you can download any song for a buck or the EP for any amount you choose to pay. I'm a big believer in paying for the work of artists--hey, I do like to sell those books I write--so I bought a copy (in lossless format, of course) and have to recommend that approach. You even get the lyrics right there on the site.

I enjoy all five songs, but my favorite is their duet, "The Ladder." I know, I know: of course I like it because Sarah is in it. Really, though, I don't think that's it; I genuinely believe it's a strong tune.

Check it out. Support Ben's music. He's good enough that I'd like to see him keep it up.