Singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin feels spoiled when he performs at the Musical Instrument Museum. He calls it his “favorite room.”
“It definitely has the best piano I’ve ever played,” McLaughlin said. “I was in Minneapolis and I played at its symphony hall on a beautiful Steinway. It’s an amazing piano. I would love to have it in my house, but the Yamaha at the MIM is the best piano I’ve ever played.”
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The Indiana native will have another chance to tickle the ivories at the MIM at 7 p.m. Monday, April 13. The concert will feature songs from his six full-length albums as well as his latest release, “Scenarios.”
“I worked on this album for a while,” he said. “There were new songs that I already had in my back pocket. I had to restrain myself from playing them last time. Now I am able to play those songs, which I’m so pumped about.”
McLaughlin’s career has been rich. He has performed with Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson and Adele, collaborated with longtime friend Sara Bareilles and Demi Lovato, and performed at the Academy Awards.
McLaughlin is promoting his album, “Scenarios,” which he released in October. He planned to put it out in 2023 and follow it with a tour — but he thought better of it.
“I had eight, maybe, OK songs that were fine,” he said. “Maybe earlier in my career, I would have put it out, and it would have been OK. However, I’ve put out a lot of albums now.” There’s so much music that is released every single week — I mean, unfathomable amounts of music, right? I thought the world didn’t need more mediocre music.
“If I’m going to add to my catalog, it needs to be music that really means something that is worthwhile to me. I’m in my 40s, and the bar should be higher at this point in someone’s career. Maybe this should be the bar all the time. I scrapped those eight songs and started over. I’ll put a record out when I feel like I have a record. It took me two more years.”
McLaughlin is “in a really good place” and excited about the collection’s response. A particularly popular song is “Acting,” which he called a “deep cut.” About 1,000 fans commented on social media that they loved the track.
Music has been a longtime love for McLaughlin, whose first two concerts were by Michael Bolton and Steven Curtis Chapman. However, the talents of Joel, Elton John and Ben Folds inspired him to give writing songs and playing piano a try.
“Steven Curtis Chapman looked like a performer,” McLaughlin said. “He was running around on stage and jumping off stuff. I thought it looked fun.
“It really resonates with the fans, too. The MIM is one of those places where I walk off the stage thinking, ‘I want to gout and do one more song.’ So, get ready for that.”