Dan Schmid

Dan Schmid
Dan Schmid playing with the Cherry Poppin' Daddies in 2009
Background information
Also known as	"The Skinny Atlas" Dang Oulette
Born	(1962-11-22) 22 November 1962 (age 54) Portland, Oregon
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, swing, ska, punk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Bass guitar, upright bass
Years active	1989 – present
Associated acts	Cherry Poppin' Daddies The Visible Men Black Francis

Daniel Joseph Schmid (born November 22, 1962) is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist and co-founder of the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Schmid was also part of the rock duo the Visible Men, and has worked with alternative rock musicians such as Black Francis and Pete Yorn.

Schmid was majoring in architecture at the University of Oregon in the early 1980s when he befriended fellow student Steve Perry. Bonding over a mutual love of punk rock, the pair eventually decided to drop out of college together to pursue their musical ambitions, playing together in the punk trio the Jazz Greats and the garage rock group Saint Huck before forming what would eventually become the Cherry Poppin' Daddies in late 1988. Schmid toured and recorded with the Daddies for nearly a decade before leaving the band in 1996, following the birth of his first child and finding the conditions of the band's hectic touring schedule beginning to take a toll on his health (Schmid is asthmatic and has many food allergies). In Schmid's absence, with Darren Cassidy assuming bass guitar duties, the Daddies recorded Zoot Suit Riot, the album which eventually led to the band's commercial breakthrough. In mid-1998, at the height of the Daddies' mainstream popularity, the band's touring conditions had improved enough for Schmid to return to the line-up at Perry's insistence, where he remains to this day.

In 1999, Schmid and Daddies keyboardist Dustin Lanker, both wanting to write music more experimental than what they were doing with the Daddies, formed the rock trio the Visible Men as a side project, playing with a rotating line-up of drummers. Following the Daddies' hiatus in late 2000, Schmid and Lanker turned their attention back towards the Visible Men, recording two independent albums and touring extensively throughout the western half of the United States in the mid-2000s before going on hiatus themselves in 2007. Schmid and Lanker also briefly played together in the Eugene tango band Mood Area 52.