Billy McLaughlin is an American

new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

acoustic guitarist, composer and producer.

Background

McLaughlin, of Irish ancestry, graduated with honors from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He is one of nine children. In 1998, Mclaughlin began noticing symptoms of

focal dystonia Focal dystonia, also called focal task-specific dystonia, is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a specific part of the body during specific activities, causing involuntary muscular contractions (spasms) and abno ...

, a neurological condition which severely limits his ability to play guitar. He began retraining himself to play left-handed, ultimately developing a

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

style holding 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 sextet he formed in 2002 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. McLaughlin is a voluntary ambassador for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

Performance

McLaughlin has toured around the United States since before 1988, and also performs in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The National Association for Campus Activities has awarded McLaughlin with three National Campus Entertainer of the Year Awards (

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

) and a Hall of Fame Achievement Award.

Discography

*''Billy McLaughlin'' (1988) Proton Music Publishing *''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)

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

*''Guitar Meditations – with Soulfood'' (2001) Soulfood Music *''A Simple Gift'' (2002) Proton Discs (Debut release of Simple Gifts) *''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 *"Winter grace - with Simple Gifts" (2013) Proton Discs *"This Christmastide - with Simple Gifts" (2016) 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)'' *''The Next Generation - Narada Sampler'' *''Narada Film and Television Music Sampler''

Accolades

McLaughlin received the 2010 Public Leadership in Neurology Award from the

American Academy of Neurology The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is a professional society representing over 40,000 neurologists and neuroscientists. As a medical specialty society it was established in 1948 by A.B. Baker of the University of Minnesota to advance the a ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Billy American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists American fingerstyle guitarists American male composers 21st-century American composers Record producers from Minnesota University of Southern California alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Narada Productions artists 21st-century American male musicians Musicians with dystonia American musicians with disabilities