Michele McLaughlin
Michele McLaughlin’s music is her story, it is her diary, her journal, her biography… a glimpse into her soul. She started playing piano when she was very young. Her earliest memories are around the age of 5, playing piano for show-n-tell in kindergarten. She’s always had a musical ear, and could figure out any melody she hear. Michele has also always been drawn to pianos… if there was a piano or keyboard in the room, she gravitated towards it, longing to touch and play it. There has always just been a connection between the Michele and piano.
When she was 8, her parents took her to see George Winston in concert. They were right by the stage, on the left hand side, she could see his hands so clearly and closely and she was mesmerized. She remembers thinking a wide-eyed “WOW!” and she thought everything about George and his music and being up on that stage playing for a concert hall full of people was just super cool. After that she spent months learning how to play his songs by ear. She would put the CD in, listen to a few measures, and then plunk it out as best she could. Before long, Michele was playing entire George Winston tunes, and though she didn’t realize it at the time, she was also learning how to play. She took lessons for a very brief moment in time and she hated it. Scales, and practicing, and learning classical music just wasn’t for
Michele. So instead, she just learned to play by listening to other musicians, and it wasn’t long before she was composing her own songs. It’s kind of funny, because she was very shy about her music growing up. She would write songs, but then she’d be too embarrassed to share them with anyone. Over the years, Michele composed dozens of songs that nobody but her close immediate friends and family heard. It wasn’t until the year 2000, when her mom pestered her to make her a cassette tape of her music, that she finally released an album.
Michele had a makeshift recording setup… a borrowed digital piano, a tape recorder, and a quiet room. She recorded 20 of her favorite pieces she’d composed over the years, mistakes and all, titled the album “Beginnings” and made a couple dozen copies to give to friends and family for Christmas that year. What she didn’t expect was the overwhelming flow of positive feedback from everyone. “This is some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard!” left Michele feeling a whole new world of emotions about her music than she’d ever felt before. It was then that she decided to step it up a notch and record a “real album”. She purchased her own digital piano, a Yamaha Clavinova, and consulted her uncle who owns a recording studio on the in’s and out’s of recording at home. Feeling especially inspired and motivated by all the positive feedback she’d received, and by finally owning her first piano, she composed and recorded 16 songs over a four month period that she released as her second (but first official) album “Elysium“. She gave this album to friends and family for Christmas and the response she received was even more overwhelming than it had been with “Beginnings“. It was then, at that moment, that she 
decided to try and make a career out of being a musician, and it would be another six years before that dream would come true. Once a year, during the holidays, she would release a new album to give to friends and family as gifts. “The Journey” was released in 2002, followed by “A Change of Color” in 2003, “The Beginning of Forever” in 2004, and “After The Storm” in 2005. By this time, she was selling her music online, and promoting herself to radio stations. One particular online radio station she wanted to be a part of was Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio.
Michele submitted a couple of her albums to David Nevue in hopes that he’d include her music on the Whisperings broadcast. He kindly replied that he enjoyed her music, however, the digital recording was not what Whisperings was looking for, and suggested that she records on an acoustic piano in the studio. Due to his encouragement, and Michele’s desire to be on the station, she compiled 20 of her favorite songs from her six released albums, and took them to the recording studio to record her next album “Reflections: The Best of Michele McLaughlin“, released in 2006. Shortly after that, she was accepted not only onto Whisperings, but also onto MusicChoice Soundscapes (the digital music stations through local cable/satellite providers). She remembers hearing her song “Night Sky” on TV and dancing around the room in utter excitement. Later that same year she purchased her first grand piano, something she had always dreamed of owning. Michele also recorded and released her first holiday album “Christmas – Plain & Simple“.
The following year, in 2007, some very big changes happened in regards to her musical career. Through Whisperings, she had the opportunity to meet pianist/composer Gary Girouard, who was in Salt Lake
City for a music teacher’s seminar, and he invited her to play a couple of songs as a special guest at his concert.
Michele was terrified. She hadn’t really performed before and she almost turned him down, but something inside of her urged her to accept, and she was so glad that she did. Performing was so exhilarating and exciting and it ignited a spark in her that pushed her to the next level of her music. It was a few months later when she decided to quit her “day job” and invest herself full time into her music, as a professional musician. Dream come true since becoming a full time musician, Michele has released many more albums; “Dedication” released in 2007, “A Celtic Dream” released in 2008, “Out of the Darkness” and “Christmas – Plain & Simple II” both released in 2010, “Breathing In The Moment” released in 2012, “Waking The Muse” released in 2013, “Undercurrent” and “Top 20” both released in 2015, and “Life” released in 2017.
Michele has received numerous nominations and awards, and charted on the New Age Billboard charts 
with two of her albums. She tours regularly and has shared the stage with many incredible and talented pianist/composers. She performed on a cruise ship for Audiosyncracy At Sea’s inaugural cruise, was a featured performer for the 2016 Zone Music Awards show.
She owns her own recording studio, do all of her recording in the comfort of her own home on her beautiful Fazioli F212 concert grand. Michele also runs an in-home concert series, Valley View Concerts, which showcases renowned pianists from all over. And, she is always constantly working on new projects, music, and ideas and immersing herself into the music.
