Introducing ...Jon McLaughlin
According to the young singer/songwriter, timing has played an important part in developing his musical skills and enjoying his budding career with his wife.
by Andree Farias | posted 10/29/2007
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I hear you were a reluctant student, going to lessons because your parents made you. Now you're a Billy Joel-in-the-making. What changed?
Jon McLaughlin Well, I started taking piano lessons at such a young age that I soon got burned out … which was good. I'm glad I started so early so that I could go through [burnout] and still have time to get back into it before it was too late. My parents were very patient with me while I was going through that, encouraging me to stay with piano lessons. They always made it clear that I could always quit if I really wanted to … but that it would be the biggest mistake of my life and would regret it forever if I did!
It seems the odds were against you, since you broke both wrists while in high school. Tell us about that.
McLaughlin I broke both my wrists [in a rollerblading accident] my freshmen year of high school. It actually came at the perfect time, as odd as that sounds. I had been dreading my piano lessons for years because none of my friends were taking piano lessons anymore. They were all into sports, so I wanted to play too and not worry about music. But then I broke my wrists and had to quit everything for a few months. The time off led me back to piano in my own way.
Young female listeners love good-looking, piano-playing singer/songwriters. As a married guy, how do you deal with obsessive fans? Does your wife screen them for you before you sign autographs?
McLaughlin My wife Amy is really amazing, and really good with this whole aspect of the business. Fortunately, there haven't been many incidences where we've had to deal with crazy fans. People are pretty respectful most of the time. And in fact, when people find out who Amy is, they want to meet her and get their picture taken with her! So it's been great since she always seems to end up with a group of new friends by the end of the night.
It must be great traveling cross-country with your spouse.
McLaughlin Great is a huge understatement. This is one of the main reasons why she is so amazing. I have a wife who has lived out of a bag on the road for our entire one-and-a-half years of marriage—and she loves it. To be able to travel everywhere and experience everything together is not a bad life!
You're an artist of faith operating largely in the mainstream music market. How big a part do your beliefs play in all this? Is it difficult to reconcile your convictions with what you do? Do your fans "get" you?
McLaughlin Being a Christian is something that bleeds into every part of my life. I consciously try to write about anything and everything, so I have songs ranging all kinds of subject matters. My beliefs make their way into them whether I am writing a song about my relationship with Jesus or my relationship with my wife. So in that way, it is always a part of my writing. And my faith plays an even greater part simply in how I lead my life—how I spend free time, how I spend money, how I treat other people. I do believe my fans, Christian and non-Christian, pick up on this, even at times when I feel I haven't made it as clearly known.
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