Billy McLaughlin
Encyclopedia
Billy McLaughlin is a new age
acoustic guitarist, composer and producer from Minnesota
, United States
.
McLaughlin is a five-time Minnesota Music Award winner with 11 CD releases and Billboard Top-Ten Chart history. He has recorded on the Narada
label.
, which severely limits his ability to play. He began teaching himself to play his distinctive hammering style "left-handed," with the neck of the guitar toward his right shoulder. A documentary entitled "Changing Keys" was made about this phase of his career. He returned to performing publicly in 2006 both solo and with his band. During his December 2006 concerts with Simple Gifts, the quartet he formed in 2005 to play Christmas music, he performed the hammering style left-handed and more traditional strumming style right-handed, using separate sets of guitars tuned for the manner in which he was playing. Also, McLaughlin released a new album, entitled "Into the Light", in early 2007. This album was recorded live and features some new compositions as well as old favorites like "Fingerdance" and "Helms Place".
since before 1988, and also performs in Japan
and across Europe
.
The National Association for Campus Activities has awarded McLaughlin with three National Campus Entertainer of the Year Awards (Jazz
) and a Hall of Fame Achievement Award.
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
acoustic guitarist, composer and producer from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
McLaughlin is a five-time Minnesota Music Award winner with 11 CD releases and Billboard Top-Ten Chart history. He has recorded on the Narada
Narada Productions
Narada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...
label.
Background
Billy McLaughlin, of Irish ancestry, graduated with honors from the University of Southern California. He is one of nine children. McLaughlin now resides in his home state of Minnesota where he is raising his two boys. In 2005 Billy announced via his website that he is suffering from focal dystoniaFocal dystonia
Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a part of the body and causes an involuntary muscular contraction or twisting...
, which severely limits his ability to play. He began teaching himself to play his distinctive hammering style "left-handed," with the neck of the guitar toward his right shoulder. A documentary entitled "Changing Keys" was made about this phase of his career. He returned to performing publicly in 2006 both solo and with his band. During his December 2006 concerts with Simple Gifts, the quartet he formed in 2005 to play Christmas music, he performed the hammering style left-handed and more traditional strumming style right-handed, using separate sets of guitars tuned for the manner in which he was playing. Also, McLaughlin released a new album, entitled "Into the Light", in early 2007. This album was recorded live and features some new compositions as well as old favorites like "Fingerdance" and "Helms Place".
Performance
McLaughlin has toured around the USUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since before 1988, and also performs in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The National Association for Campus Activities has awarded McLaughlin with three National Campus Entertainer of the Year Awards (Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
) and a Hall of Fame Achievement Award.
Discography
- Inhale Pink (1989) Proton Discs
- The Archery of Guitar (1993) Proton Discs
- Wintersongs & Traditionals (1994) Proton Discs
- Stormseeker – The Best of Billy McLaughlin (1995) Proton Discs
- Fingerdance (1996) Narada
- Out of Hand (1999) Narada
- Acoustic Original: The Best of Billy McLaughlin (2001) NaradaNarada ProductionsNarada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...
- Guitar Meditations – with Soulfood (2001) Soulfood Music
- A Simple Gift (2002) Proton Discs
- Guitar Meditations II – with Soulfood (2005) Soulfood Music
- Into the Light (2007) Proton Discs
- Shepherds & Angels – with Simple Gifts (2007) Proton Discs
- A Small Town Christmas – with Simple Gifts (2009) Proton Discs
- The Star Carol – with Simple Gifts (2010) Proton Discs
With The Billy McLaughlin Group
- Exhale Blue (1989)
- The Bow and the Arrow (1995)
- Finally! – Live (2002) Proton Discs
Compilation appearances
- Stories (Narada Artist Collection)Stories (Narada Artist Collection)Stories is a 1998 compilation release by Narada."Extraordinary performers reveal their artistic inspirations in deeply personal instrumental memoirs".-Track listing:#"Bahama" – Artie Traum – 4:26...
- The Next Generation - Narada SamplerThe Next Generation - Narada SamplerThe Next Generation - Explore Our World is a 1997 Narada sampler introducing their "Next Generation" of artists.-Track listing:#Jesse Cook Introduction – 0:52#"Mario Takes A Walk" – Jesse Cook – 3:47...
- Narada Film and Television Music SamplerNarada Film and Television Music SamplerNarada Films and Television Music Sampler is a 2003 U.S. EMI Film & TV Music publishing 2CD sampler that represents an overview of the Narada catalog, demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the Narada roster.-Disc One:...