An Intro to Jon McLaughlin
05-31-2007
by Kevan Breitinger

New mainstream artist Jon McLaughlin took a few minutes away from his killer tour schedule to talk to us about his song-writing process, the wise counsel of Bono, and life on the road.

CMCentral (Kevan Breitinger): Thanks for calling, Jon.

Jon McLaughlin: Yeah, of course.

(Laughing) This is interview day for you, isn’t it?

(Laughing) Yeah, all, day.

I never had interview day, that must be wild. I’m reading about you and the story of your teenage resistance to the discipline and routine of studying music, pretty crazy considering where you are now.

Oh, yeah. It’s funny.

Do you see the hand of God in this?

Definitely, for sure. For one, just the fact that it all came back around. I started playing piano for special music, or for the offertory, things like that in our home church. Then after I went through the time when I let it get away from me for a couple of years, I got back into it through the church again. My family switched to a different church, a Church of God church, and they had a youth group, with a youth band, and needed a keyboard player. So the Lord was very much in all of that.

That’s great. I’m struck by the lyrical vulnerability in your music, Jon. Is that you taking a risk or does that just come naturally to you?

Writing a song is a private thing, you know? You’re not doing it publicly. You’re in some room, your dorm room or your bedroom, you know?

You’re in the moment?

Yeah, you’re alone. Obviously if you’re gonna put it on an album, it kind of gives you a false sense of privacy, you know? But I feel like that’s the way it should be for the most part. I’m not that open and vulnerable in day to day life, but I’m definitely one to hold back when it comes to the contents of a song or how much of my personal beliefs I want to express in a song. I think you should give each song a fighting chance.

That’s a great way to put it. I don’t know that I’ve heard an artist describe that process to me so clearly before. But again, (laughing), there’s that vulnerability. Maybe it does come naturally. I know you did some co-writing on this album; did you find your co-writers to be on the same page with you in this?

This was my first time ever to co-write. That was really a tough thing for me, the toughest thing about making this album. For many reasons. But dealing with other writers, especially when you’re getting together to write with other writers that you just met that day…. You get together, say ‘hi, my name is Jon, now let’s sit down and write a song together.’ It’s tougher to get those really personal vulnerable moments into a song in that kind of a setting. But I feel there were definitely a couple of songs that came through anyway, which kind of surprised me. I think that that’s a testament to some of the writers that I did work with who were easy, approachable, and it just worked.

It’s indicative of the intimacy that you bring to the process, too. You’re doing a lot of touring, too, I know. How is all that for you? What do you find most challenging about life on the road?

I love being on the road, I love every aspect of it. I haven’t been doing it forever either, so I still get excited about playing a good show, and I get down when I play a bad show. I hope it stays like that as long as it can. It’s tough when you’re out on the road for a long time because it gets harder to stay in touch with friends and family back home. It would be easy to get completely swallowed up in what is really, at the end of the day, your job. There’s no office, there’s no commute, you’re just constantly there, in what would be considered your office. Even though it’s the greatest thing to be out on the road as much as I am, it’s not wisdom to extend it too much.

Has anyone given you any spiritual advice that’s been particularly helpful to you as you deal with these things?

I have a couple answers for that. Right now I’m in the middle of a new book that’s like a 300 page interview with Bono, I think it’s just called “Bono.” A friend gave it to me because he has a lot of good things to say about being an artist, about being on the road, about being in the music industry and at the same time achieving some really great humanitarian goals, and keeping your faith and your relationship with God intact. It’s a great book. I’m about half way through it.

Also I’m married now, and my wife is on the road all the time with us.

Oh, that’s great.

Yeah, it’s awesome. Anyone will tell you, having your wife out on the road will keep you calm. Even though she’s with us physically every day, she has more of that mental anchor with home going on. It’s good for me that she keeps me grounded. Grounded and rounded (laughing).

(Laughing) Well, I’m not gonna make you do 300 pages. I’ll just ask you one more quick question: what is it, Jon, that you can’t make it through the day without?

Oh, wow, that’s a good question. I’ve never had that question before. I’m not gonna say Mountain Dew, (laughing) but it’s almost true. We’re well on the road to making it true.

You know, I know what it is. I’ve developed somewhat of a routine for when I go to play a show or at a radio station or anything like that. I have to have time, like two minutes where I just go be by myself. I’ll get a drink of water or something, say a prayer, try to focus a little bit. I don’t think I would be in good shape if for some reason I couldn’t do that every day.

That sounds like wisdom. Jon, I really enjoyed talking to you.

Oh, likewise. Take care.