John Benda is quite the versatile musician. When he isn’t beating the hell out of the drums with Black on Black, he’s tending to soft little melodies on the guitar.

The Lawrence ex-pat showed off his softer side on Thursday when he played to an intimate crowd on Midcoast Takeover’s Acoustic Stage at SXSW. He even called upon Lawrence’s own Spencer Brown for some dueling guitars on a couple of songs. The crooner was also joined by his wife on vocals, and one of the best parts of this set was watching them sneak glances at each other. Can we say cute overload?

Here’s a clip from his SXSW performance. He takes the stage with Black on Black on Friday at noon, for I Heart Local Music’s showcase at Shangri-La.

Words and photos by Fally Afani