Members In Piano Guys
Steven Nelson
The cellist & songwriter
He started his career on Youtube as an award winning cellist and was on the billboard charts because of this. Nelson plays multiple instruments but mainly the guitar, percussion, and introducing a new way to play cello. He had hundreds of cellos made of all different materials, including wood, steel, carbon fiber and the electric cello. He invented many cello sounds never heard before, including a way for the cello to sound like an oboe, a trombone, a Chinese fiddle, a saxophone, an Indian sitar, a snare drum, a kick drum, and a timpani. Him and his wife have four children.
Al van der Beek
The music producer & songwriter
He was born in New Zealand and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when he was four year olds. His parents gave him a passion for music and although wanting to play the saxophone eventually they convinced him to play the violin. His siblings also played many instruments and he taught himself to play guitar, piano, and drums by ear. He started a group with his high school best friends and later opened to many popular groups. This caused him to end up in a recording studio because he was starting to get fame From being in this recording studio he realized how much he loved music production and he started recording music by himself and teaching himself producing. He opened his own recording studio thus later making him part of Piano Guys permanently.
Jon Schmidt
The pianist & songwriter
His parents who were German immigrants gave started his love of music by sending him to lessons. He had natural talents for music and after a lot of hard work had started composing at the age of eleven and started teaching his own piano lessons for others at sixteen. He started his music career in his very early twenties. Worried that his music might not be popular and he would not be able to support his family, he went to college with an English major. His friend had eventually convinced him to try and take on his music and he rented a concert hall to play in front of an audience. They loved it and he hasn't used his English major since then. His wife Michelle and him had five children including one that sadly passed away in 2016.
Paul Anderson
The producer& videographer
He played piano as a kid but gave up because he thought it was lame. Later in his life as he was delivering water as his job he walked into a piano store and started playing on one of the pianos. A customer walked in while he was playing and was intrigued with what he was playing and started asking questions, Anderson started explaining the piano he was playing on and what it could do. The person ended up buying the piano that Anderson had talked to him about, the manager of the store offered him a job after seeing how easily he had sold the piano. His future wife had also worked in the same mall as him and a little over a year later they got married. Tracy, his wife, and him now have four children.
How Piano Guys Started
Paul Anderson owned a piano store called The Piano Guys, which eventually gave the group their name. Anderson wanted a new way to attract customers by making music videos that showcase his pianos. One day Jon Schmidt, the piano player, walked into the store asking to practice on one of the pianos for a gig. Anderson offered Schimmit an opportunity to showcase his talent and Anderson’s pianos at the same time. Steven Sharp Nelson, the cellist, had met Jon Schmidt previously when he was 15. Jon Schmidt and Steven Nelson had played many gigs and concerts together and as they played more they became close friends. Later on their music producer Al van der Beek had decided to go full time with them and that was how the full group was formed.