FEATURED YOGA MUSIC

When I started to write my humble review of this CD, I started to cry. I have such deep, sincere respect and admiration for Billy McLaughlin—our local, internationally known musician. I felt the weight of the world to do justice introducing him to any of my readers who don’t know him. I loved Billy’s music before he went silent due to dystonia, as many of his fans did. He plays “fingerstyle guitar”, doing mostly “fretwork”, playing on the top of the guitar vs. strumming at the bottom—in my own pure layman’s terms. To hear his music is thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, but to see him perform—well, that is priceless!

 “Billy McLaughlin is a guitarist and composer. For twenty years, he astounded audiences around the world with his complex and rhythmic music. In 2001, Billy was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, an incurable neuromuscular disease that rendered him unable to play his own music. By 2002, Billy McLaughlin’s career was over. In 2006, Billy began a comeback. He was doing the unthinkable – relearning his songs left handed. Billy McLaughlin is astounding audiences once again with both his story and his music.” http://www.billymclaughlin.com/

The PBS documentary equated what Billy has done to say that it was like re-learning to perfectly speak the English language backwards. Having seen his performances both before and after, and having watched the PBS documentary as well as his Coming Back Alive DVD, I can only say that I am in total awe of the genius, talent, and perseverance of this man.

So I offer this highlight as an inspiration for those of us struggling to overcome and conquer in 2012. The PBS documentary said that for a musical talent like Billy, music was his identity, which is why one of his comeback songs is entitled, “Don’t know how to die” and his comeback DVD is titled Coming Back Alive.

“Of his piece ‘Don’t know How to Die,’ he says, ‘It’s a song about not giving up, about not knowing what to do with yourself if you aren’t doing what you know you’ve been put on earth to do.’ He describes the piece as ‘deeply emotional,’ and one he would not have written had he not gone through his struggle to keep playing music.”  (Website quote is from is no longer active as I update 2023)

Don’t let your 2012 mountains extinguish your spirit, climb above them and dance, perhaps Fingerdance…Into The Light. http://www.myspace.com/billymclaughlinmusic  

Into the Light CD

Description: 

Billy’s remarkable left handed return to the stage. This long awaited new recording from Billy’s recent comeback performance features chamber orchestra arrangements by Eugenio Toussaint that envelope Billy’s signature acoustic guitar compositions. You’ve never heard anything quite like this!

Available at: https://billymclaughlin.com/store/

Coming Back Alive DVD

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/libbydorazione/4988669291/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Billy’s comeback concert featuring string orchestra and The Entire Band. 99-minute single DVD concert video directed by David Taylor.

Available here.

FlipSide a documentary about Billy’s struggle with dystonia and features concert footage from Coming Back Alive, scenes from Changing Keys and new interview footage shot in-studio.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/aug/10/billy-mclaughlin-flip-side/