Michele McLaughlin™ is a self-taught multi-award winning Contemporary Instrumental and New Age solo pianist and composer. She has released twenty-two albums, many of which have received multiple nominations and awards. She has over 1.8 Billion spins on streaming and has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, both online and in print. She is an eight time New Age Billboard Charting artist with five of her albums (“Undercurrent” at #5, “Life” at #7, “Memoirs” at #4, "Christmas - Plain & Simple" at #10, #8 and #7 for three weeks in a row, and "Christmas - Plain & Simple II at #9 for two weeks in a row). Her original solo piano compositions are often described as "musical storytelling" because the music paints a perfect picture of the story she is trying to tell. Michele says, “I've often been told that my music is "captivating" and that it transports the listener into worlds of imagination and wonder. For me though, my music is my story... it is my diary, my journal, my biography… a glimpse into my soul.”
Michele 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 heard. She has always been drawn to pianos… if there was a piano or keyboard in the room, she gravitated toward it, longing to touch and play it. Michele started composing around the age of 8 and was very shy about her music growing up. She would write songs, but then be too embarrassed to share them with anyone. Over the years, she composed dozens of songs that only her close immediate friends and family heard. It wasn’t until the year 2000, when her mom asked her to make a cassette tape of her music, that she released an album. “I had a makeshift recording setup… a borrowed digital piano, a tape recorder, and a quiet room. I recorded 20 of my favorite pieces I’d composed over the years, mistakes and all, titled the album “Beginnings” and made a couple dozen copies to give to friends and family. What I didn’t expect was the overwhelming flow of positive feedback from everyone. Comments like “Wow, I didn’t know you played so well!” or “You really should make more of these!”, and “This is some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard!” left me feeling a whole new world of emotions about my music than I’d ever felt before.”
This is when Michele decided to step it up a notch and record a “real album”. She purchased a digital piano and consulted her uncle who owns a recording studio on the ins and outs of recording at home. Feeling especially inspired and motivated by all the positive feedback she had received, she composed and recorded 16 songs over a four month period and released her second (but first official) album “Elysium”. The response she received was even more overwhelming than it had been with “Beginnings” and she was so inspired that she decided to try and make a career out of being a musician.
Over the next six years, Michele released an additional six albums, started selling music online, and began building an impressive fan base. In 2007, her dream of making music her career became reality when she was able to quit her corporate job to work on music full-time. In the years she has spent as a musician, she has released more than two dozen albums and has been featured on several compilation and collaboration albums as well. She has performed in over 200 concerts. Her music is a regular favorite on all streaming platforms, and is a bestseller on iTunes and Amazon, often landing her in the Top Ten New Age Charts. She has been featured on radio stations worldwide, including SiriusXM, MusicChoice Soundscapes, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio and Echoes.