In the Christmas Spirit: Piano Guys, Part I | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: If you appreciate the musical and cinematography creativity of the extra talented Piano Guys, as much as we do here at BCN, you can easily access all of their segments here.

    I found these (Piano) guys, when I was searching for Christmas carols, specifically "Carol of the Bells". What I discovered was their cellist, Steven Sharp Nelson, performing an arrangement of "Carol of the Bells" for 12 cellos, no other instruments, with Mr. Nelson playing all of them - 12 tracks overlaid and mixed - beautiful. His grasp of the complex versatility of the cello, plus using its melodic box as a percussion instrument manifests Mr. Nelsons profound musicology.

    Upon a bit of research, I found that the Piano Guys had done a number of other Christmas carols, all remarkable in one context or another, all extremely unique. These (Piano) guys are the personification of have piano, and, or cello will travel, and in this post, and the next two yet to be presented, one should get a strong sense of that essential act of keeping their music mobile, and eclectic sound so pleasing.
Piano Guys (from left to right): Paul Anderson, Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharpe Nelson and Al Van Der Beek: Above.
    While Piano Guys consists of four guys, two of the guys are less musicians, and act more as producers: Paul Anderson is listed as a Producer / Videographer; Al Van Der Beek is listed as Music Producer / Songwriter. The centerpiece of the group is, of course, the piano, with the maestro du jour, actually everyday, Jon Schmidt, who is also listed as a Songwriter. The aforementioned cellist, Steven Sharp Nelson, is also listed as a Songwriter.


    A better explanation of who Piano Guys was found on their website, which also informs one where they are performing, and how to obtain their most original style of making beautiful music. On their site, these (Piano) guys explained themselves as such:

    What do you get when you mix up a marketing genius that does video, a studio engineer that writes music, a pianist that had a successful solo career, and a cellist that does pretty much everything? The Piano Guys: a miraculous meeting of “guys” with the same intrinsic purpose – to make a positive impact in the lives of people all over the world through music videos - Piano Guys

Here below is Piano Guys homespun, group, and extra-melodic rendition of the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High".


Here below is the Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells", that led me to these wonderful musicians and entertainers.


    Publisher's note: If you are really in the Christmas spirit, or just in the need for more, please click here to access all of the holiday spirit in melody and narrative that BCN can harness and offer for this Yuletide Season.