ABOUT
My name is Jacob McLaughlin. I'm a Vermont based musician. Among other things, I'm a singer-songwriter, pianist, organist, Rock musician, and dabbler in a few different instruments. It doesn't really matter the style or genre -- I've probably played it.
I began my musical journey just prior to turning 9 years of age when one of the local librarians thought I might be up for learning piano. I went on to a couple other piano teachers since my first one -- and went back to my first one who imparted some of her organist knowledge to me. In my teens, the "music bug" really bit me between playing things I really enjoyed and making a little money performing. At that time, I began writing some songs also (albeit pretty rough stuff) and dabbling in a little guitar.
After high school, I studied Music and Communication at Castleton University, while working weekends as a church organist. I focused on piano, but I really began to discover my voice at that time. I ended up balancing piano and voice for my senior recital -- and I rose to the occasion well in both cases. In 2010 I graduated and got to work in the field much more!
From there, I feel like the learning truly began putting principles into practice, and I've worked in a variety of musical capacities:
Continuing as an organist; being an accompanist for my voice teacher's choir; working as musical director with Rutland Youth Theater; working in a couple Jazz combos; performing weddings and funerals and corporate parties; doing cocktail piano at a fine dining restaurant; doing brief stints in a couple Rock bands before founding my own Classic Rock cover band which also performed original content; church music director and choral conductor; accompanist for school choirs; a session player on several occasions; comedy show pianist; a dueling pianist for a few dates; writing some themes for a YouTube show; and more!
In addition to the variety of jobs I've had, I have branched out to learning some secondary instruments which I've added to my arsenal like, ukulele, electric bass, drums, accordion, harmonica, melodica, and doing a bit more with guitar. I've gotten to learn the basics of some of these in a utilitarian way, picking things up and being inspired to write music including them. I love having that versatility, but I'm definitely most comfortable behind a keyboard and singing.
As I say, I've written plenty of music. These compositions come out reflective of some of the diversity I've experienced playing, with sounds of varying genre and style. This is on display in my album 802 Experience (iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby), which I released in 2014. I have performed various tracks with my former band, called Totally Submerged, and solo at my singer-songwriter engagements. However, I have more works I would have loved to include on that album, not yet recorded, and even more I have accumulated since. Currently, I'm in the process of recording and releasing another album which will include some of my talent playing secondary instrumentation (and like 802 Experience I hope to track plenty of it myself).
While I continue to work, my focus these days has shifted to becoming more known for my library and touring promoting myself as a singer-songwriter. Though, I hope to keep offering quality music to you and all my listeners regardless of the setting. Feel free to reach out to me for hire on whatever projects you have in mind!