Kiss Me Now (Danny Schmidt)

Another musical PSA!  My history with Danny Schmidt is deep and wide.  Rather than recap, here is the link to multiple blog posts which describe how I was introduced to his music, presented him in two house concerts, showcased him a handful of times at my Labyrinth Cafe concert series, engaged in long and deep conversations, both in-person and via e-mail.  Of course, through Danny I fell in love with Carrie as well, equally talented and dear.  I was honored and grateful to be invited to their wedding in October 2014, and I joked that I "f*cked up their numbers" by actually attending (you know, those out-of-town friends and family who you never expect to really come).  Oh, what a celebration of JOY and LOVE!

Received the following e-newsletter from Danny a few days ago.  I love his, and Carrie's, music so much that I'm thinking seriously of restoring my deactivated Facebook account (well, only for the few hours or so the concert is happening...  :-)  Join me?

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Hi Y'all --

I don't need to tell you these are challenging and extraordinary times. I sincerely hope that you are each safe and healthy, and feeling well-supported emotionally. Carrie and I are doing our best to keep Maizy happy and engaged while on house arrest. It's a hard concept for a three year old . . . but good practice for future groundings.

We're also doing our best to reschedule our cancelled tours as quickly as possible, given the uncertain timetable of the return to normalcy. Meanwhile, we're using what free time we have to write new songs and remain productive.

Carrie and I are playing an online concert this Saturday, live from our living room. We're really disappointed that our springtime travels have all been curtailed . . . so this is our way of trying to connect with those of you who we'll miss . . . and our way of trying to stay musicially (and humanly) connected with the rest of our extended and isolated community.

Here's the details:

Saturday, April 4th 2020
Danny Schmidt + Carrie Elkin: The Sequestered Together Concert
Streaming on Facebook Live starting at 2:00pm CDT
(That's 8pm in the UK, and 9pm in Europe.)

You can watch from this link:
https://www.facebook.com/dannyschmidtmusic/live

We really hope to see you all online this Saturday. And we really REALLY hope that you are staying healthy and maintaining your stability through this ordeal. Many of you I know personally. Many of you I only know through our musical connection. But ANY of you, if you're feeling like you need an extra somebody to talk with right now, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'll do whatever I can to lend an ear and a hand to anyone in need.

All the best —
Danny

P.S.  The song I chose is written by Danny Schmidt, and was his onstage proposal to Carrie at South by Southwest.   The video was shot at the GreenHouse concert a couple days after Danny proposed to Carrie at their SXSW showcase in 2013.  It includes a funny telling of the story of how the proposal went down, and then a performance of the sweet song that Danny wrote for Carrie to ask her to marry him.  Enjoy this special moment!


SONG:  Kiss Me Now by Danny Schmidt

BOOK:  Daisy-Head Mayzie by Dr. Seuss

POEM:  To Jane: The Invitation by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Best and brightest, come away!
Fairer far than this fair Day,
Which, like thee to those in sorrow,
Comes to bid a sweet good-morrow
To the rough Year just awake
In its cradle on the brake.
The Brightest hour of unborn Spring,
Through the winter wandering,
Found, it seems, the halcyon Morn
To hoar February born.
Bending from Heaven, in azure mirth,
It kissed the forehead of the Earth,
And smiled upon the silent sea,
And bade the frozen streams be free,
And waked to music all their fountains,
And breathed upon the frozen mountains,
And like a prophetess of May
Strewed flowers upon the barren way,
Making the wintry world appear
Like one on whom thou smilest, dear.
Away, away, from men and towns,
To the wild wood and the downs—
To the silent wilderness
Where the soul need not repress
Its music lest it should not find
An echo in another’s mind.
While the touch of Nature’s art
Harmonizes heart to heart.
I leave this notice on my door
For each accustomed visitor:—
“I am gone into the fields
To take what this sweet hour yields;—
Reflection, you may come tomorrow,
Sit by the fireside with Sorrow.—
You with the unpaid bill, Despair,—
You, tiresome verse-reciter, Care,—
I will pay you in the grave,—
Death will listen to your stave.
Expectation too, be off!
Today is for itself enough;
Hope, in pity mock not Woe
With smiles, nor follow where I go;
Long having lived on thy sweet food,
At length I find one moment’s good
After long pain—with all your love,
This you never told me of.”

Radiant Sister of the Day,
Awake! arise! And come away!
To the wild woods and the plains,
And the pools where winter rains
Image all their roof of leaves,
Where the pine its garland weaves
Of sapless green, and ivy dun
Round stems that never kiss the sun:
Where the lawns and pastures be,
And the sandhills of the sea:—
Where the melting hoar-frost wets
The daisy-star that never sets,
And wind-flowers, and violets,
Which yet join not scent to hue,
Crown the pale year weak and new;
When the night is left behind
In the deep east, dun and blind,
And the blue noon is over us,
And the multitudinous
Billows murmur at our feet,
Where the earth and ocean meet,
And all things seem only one
In the universal sun.

QUOTE:  "And what is romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like it, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose, and it's always daisy-time." ~ D. H. Lawrence