A Jon Schmidt Concert Long Overdue

When I was about 10 years old my parents took my siblings and I to a concert (in Everett, WA)featuring a pianist named Jon Schmidt and an a'capella group called the Knudeson brothers. I remember really enjoying the a'capella group and being wowed by the talent and humor of this pianist. He even laid with his back on the piano bench, head under the keys, and played a complicated song he wrote-upside down. After the concert ended I remember my family was really excited to buy the Knudeson brothers tape. But I really wanted some tapes of the pianist. I don't remember if we bought all three tapes of Jon Schmidt that night, but if we did just buy one, soon after I had all three.I remember going home and learning to play a simple(VERY simple) song I had made up upside down just like he did. I remember playing his tapes over and over in our house and listening to them constantly on my walk man while on road trips with the family. When I was about fourteen years old my grandma bought me one of his piano books which I immediately started to learn to play from. Even though I almost never practiced my scales for my piano teacher (terrible I know!), I always practiced Jon Schmidts music. His music was exciting and interesting, and so much fun to play. To this day his music is the thing I look forward to playing the most. He is my hero when it comes to music. Why it took me 16 years to go to another one of his concerts I don't know. But Saturday night was such a big deal to me and I was SO excited! Finally I was going to hear and see this guy play in person after all these years of idolising him. Scott, being the great husband he is, came along with me mostly for the ride. Leading up to it he didn't seem particularly interested or excited. Little did he know! Little did I know even. We were both SO impressed! Both of us REALLY enjoyed the concert, finding ourselves laughing out loud even for most of it because he is such a great entertainer. One of the first things he did was play Rudolph the red nosed reindeer upside down with his legs crossed and foot waving. And of course all of us in the audience were waiting for him to play "Love Story meets Viva La Vida", a mash up of Taylor Swift and Cold Play songs that was a you tube hit. He didn't disappoint. The whole concert was such an experience and I can't believe even more that it took me this long to go back. I will be doing it more regularly in the future! It makes me even more happy as well that Scott enjoyed the concert as much as I did and was really impressed. After all, he influenced my piano playing, ability, and taste for music, for most of my life.

To find out more about Jon Schmidt, his concert schedule, or to listen to some of his music, go to his website. I suggest starting out by listening to "All Of Me". One of my favorites since the beginning!

I know it's blurry, but it's him!

I recorded just the end of the Love Story meets viva la vida song. It comes in towards the end of them singing at the climax.