Dads Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson aren’t your typical fathers. Better known as The Piano Guys, they’ve become viral stars online with almost 7 million subscribers on YouTube and a reputation for incredible performances and epic music videos. But at the end of the day, they’re still dads, and their love for their daughters is as sweet as any father-daughter relationship can be.
In their latest music video, that tender connection is on display as they joined father-daughter singing duo Mat and Savanna Shaw in a touching new music video. The song, “Grow As We Go,” was originally released by Broadway star and actor Ben Platt in 2019. Cellist Steven Sharp Nelson is joined by his daughter Lucy on violin, and pianist Jon Schmidt plays alongside his daughter Sarah.
The lyrics and visuals of the new video hint at the special relationship both father and daughter have shared up to this point, and how they both still need to learn and grow. Viewers also sense the father’s desire for his little girl not to distance herself as she navigates through life and its challenges.
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In 2016, Jon’s daughter and Sarah’s older sister Annie tragically died in a hiking accident in Oregon. One year after Annie’s passing, Jon shared in a video, "People talk about grief, pain, fear, sorrow. All of these words can’t really describe how you feel when you really go through the loss of a loved one.” He and his fellow Piano Guys dedicated many of their 2017 Christmas concerts to Annie and released music videos for The Sweetest Gift and Ode to Joy to the World in her honor.
”We know we’re not alone when it comes to feeling alone. Or depressed. Or hopeless,” The Piano Guys shared on their YouTube page. “You have had these moments too. It’s something we all have in common, no matter who we are or where we’re from. You’ve felt like giving up. We did too. But mingled with this feeling was something we didn’t expect. And as we gave place for it, nurtured it, and expressed gratitude for it, we felt this feeling grow—It was joy. Joy in knowing we were not alone; joy in the strength that came from the prayers of people we hadn’t even met; joy in knowing that everything happens for a reason.”
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