Murray McLauchlan has a pretty storied career including numerous awards dating back to 1972 including 11 Juno awards , the most recent being Country Male Vocalist of the year in 1988 and the Order of Canada, and is a pilot to boot, but he’s not one to rest on his laurels.
He returns to Lethbridge to perform a solo show at the Yates Theatre, Oct. 25 with upright bassist Victor Bateman.
McLauchlan has written quite a few hits dating back to the early ’70s when American folk singer Tom Rush Recorded “Child’s Song.”
"Honky Red" were performed by Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Bobby Neuwirth. He received early song cuts by country music star George Hamilton IV.
“It’s been a few years since I was in Lethbridge, But I’ll be back on Oct. 25,” said McLauchlan, cleaning up his cabin for winter. He is also known for “Down by The Henry Moore.”
He was last here with Marc Jordan, Ian Thomas and Cindy Church, aka Lunch at Allen’s, back in 2016.
McLauchlan began writing and performing songs in his late teens. After playing at major music festivals including The Philadelphia Folk Festival, where he appeared alongside Jim Croce and John Prine, and Mariposa where he gave up half of his concert time so Joni Mitchell could play, he attracted wider attention on the club circuit, playing such well-known rooms as The Riverboat in Toronto, The Bitter End in New York, The Main Point in Philadelphia, and the famous Earl of Old Town in Chicago.
McLauchlan has recorded 19 albums in the past 40-some years.
But for this show, he plans on focusing on his last two albums, particularly the most recent, 2017’s “Love Can’t Tell Time,” which celebrates his love of learning how to play Italian style guitar.
“I went to Italy in 2013 and was listening to a lot of jazz and classical guitar and I learned how to play it. I really loved that experience. It reminded me how much I love playing guitar,” he said.
“People in their prime can still look back,” he observed.
“‘ Little White Lies,’ is beautiful, though they can be hard to listen to,” he said pointing out one of his favourite tracks on the CD.
He said being in Italy and listening all the different music inspired him musically and pushed him as a a guitarist.
“ I’ve got to keep evolving. It was important to me to be able to change. It keeps things fresh,” he said, adding changing musical tastes is natural as he ages.
“ Lots of my fans are boomer aged—45-70 like me and I’ve grown with them,” he said.
He will be performing a stripped down set of music, with McLauchlan playing piano and guitar and Victor Bateman on upright bass.
“I’ve always like people like John Prine, who can go on stage and play,” he said.
He has also busy working with his charity Room 217 including organizing a gala fundraiser for the charity which is dedicated to caring through music.
“It’s about the use of music in palliative care to helps people with Alzheimer’s disease,” he summarized, noting the April 26 gala was very successful.
After the 15 date Canadian tour, McLauchlan is going to Singapore.
“I’m going just to travel and see it I love to travel. It’s important to travel and get out of your comfort zone and experience other cultures,” he said.
He is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge.
“I have a lot of positive experiences in Lethbridge going back to working with Ron Sakamoto. I always meet a lot of great people there and we’re always interested in coming back,” he said.
Murray McLauchlan plays the Yates Theatre, Thursday, Oct. 25 at $7:30 p.m. Tickets are $52.50.
