Acoustic Guitar Trailblazer Billy McLaughlin & Special Guest Nathan Wilson

Acoustic Guitar Virtuoso!

An Emmy Award winner and acoustic guitar vanguard, Billy McLaughlin is a must-see for anyone unfamiliar with his music or the journey he’s taken to keep making it. His acoustic guitar playing defies gravity, featuring new solo compositions and exceptionally funny, improvised dialogue with violin and mandolin maestro Nathan Wilson.

Billy McLaughlin: Acoustic Guitar

Nathan Wilson: Mandolin, Violin

Billy McLaughlin is recognized internationally as a world-class guitarist, composer and inspirational performer who has appeared on Billboard’s TopTen Chart. Previously signed to Virgin Records’ Narada label, McLaughlin has 14 CD releases, 3 National Campus Entertainer of the Year Awards*, 5 Minnesota Music Awards and his decades of national concert touring earned him the Hall of Fame Achievement Award*.

But in 1999 McLaughlin vanished from sight as his career crumbled due to a little-known neuro-muscular disorder called Focal Dystonia. After suffering several years without a cure, he embarked on an unlikely attempt to regain his career by re-learning his instrument left-handed. His remarkable comeback is captured in the documentary film Changing Keys (airing on PBS 2010) and a concert film called Coming Back Alive featuring McLaughlin with string orchestra and a reunion of his longtime rock band.

Now serving as Ambassador for Awareness for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, McLaughlin is the winner of the 2010 Public Leadership in Neurology Award** whose previous winners include Paul Allen, Julie Andrews, Leon Fleischer and Michael J. Fox.

McLaughlin has resumed an international schedule of concert appearances and keynote speaking. He resides in his home state of Minnesota with his two sons.

“…you may swear Billy McLaughlin is two of the greatest acoustic guitarists you’ve ever heard.” — Pittsburgh Post Gazette

billymclaughlin.com