ABOUT THIS ALBUM 
Iceland is a small island in the North Atlantic Ocean that boasts a dramatic landscape of volcanoes, black sand beaches, green moss covered lava rocks, thousands of waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, dramatic sea cliffs, towering mountain ranges, and breathtaking scenery.  It is one of my all time favorite places and I’ve visited there twice, with my sister, in February 2016 and September 2021.  The first trip was during winter and we stayed in Reykjavik and took excursions to see various areas of the Southern Coastline.  The second trip was during the late summer into the beginning of fall, and we travelled around the entire country exploring as many areas as we could see in two weeks. During these trips we hiked to dozens of waterfalls, stood next to an erupting volcano and active lava flow, explored the isolated back county, rode in a zodiac on the bouncy rolling ocean waves to see wild sea life, saw the northern lights, were almost blown away by gale force winds, explored an ice cave inside a glacier, soaked in geothermal lagoons, saw hundreds of horses and sheep that are unique to Iceland, ate delicious food, and we had an absolute blast.  These were two of my all time favorite sister vacations, and I wrote an entire album of music to share what we experienced there. Please enjoy my twenty-third album, Iceland.

TECHNICAL CREDITS:
All songs composed, produced and performed by Michele McLaughlin® michelemclaughlin.com
Piano & Recording:  Michele's Home Studio in Salt Lake City, UT on her Fazioli F278 9' Concert Grand
Mastering & Engineering:  Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studio in Sedona, AZ pianohaven.com 
Album Design:  Michele McLaughlin® and Matt Strieby at New Leaf Design newleafdesign.com
Manufactured at Discmakers www.discmakers.com
Copyright ©℗2024 All Rights Reserved (ASCAP)
NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the composer and publisher’s exclusive rights under copyright and trademark, any use of this recording to “train” generative artificial intelligence [AI] technologies to generate music is expressly prohibited.  
www.michelemclaughlin.com

Iceland

ABOUT THIS ALBUM:
In the spring of 2018, Matt moved in with me, and we quickly learned that my house was not everything we needed as a couple.  So, in early 2019 we decided to buy another home, but after going through the motions, it just didn’t feel quite right, so we backed out and decided to renovate our existing home instead.  We spent a lot of time and effort working toward the renovation, but it fell through at the last minute right as the pandemic was beginning, leaving us in a bit of a bind.  We went on the search for our perfect home and we found it!  We were able to sell our existing home quickly, and we were able to renovate the new home to make it truly ours and everything we needed together.  We moved in the summer of 2020 and we absolutely love it.  The music on this album is about our journey, and how happy we are in our new space that we feel was meant just for us.  Welcome, to our HOME.

Home

Together Again

Hidden Acre

A New Dream

Fireflies
I love to watch fireflies hovering and dancing in the air, glowing and illuminating in the darkness.  It’s magical.

Luminous

Fireflies

"The Space Between" from Undercurrent ©2015

"Full Of Love" from Undercurrent ©2015

Foss
The Icelandic word for waterfall is Foss, and all waterfalls there have a name that ends in Foss.  Skogafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Godafoss, Gullfoss, Dettifoss, Selfoss, etc.  There are 10,000 waterfalls in Iceland and we visited dozens of them.

Foss

Middle of Nowhere (Möðrudalur)
In an area far away from almost everything, called Möðrudalur, we stayed in this quaint little farm house on our way to our next destination.  It was magical there and greatly inspired me.

Middle of Nowhere (Möðrudalur)

Westman Island
Off the southern coastline of Iceland is an island community called Westman Island, and the town of Heimaey.  We took a day trip out there to experience the town and ride on a zodiac to see the sea life, puffins, and Elephant Rock.

Westman Island

The Ring Road
The main highway around Iceland travels in a circle around the outer areas of Iceland and passes many of Iceland’s most popular sites.  This song is about my sister and I driving around Iceland together.

The Ring Road

Blue Ice
There are 269 glaciers in Iceland.  We explored an ice cave inside of the Vatnajokull glacier.  We visited the glacier lagoon, Jokulsarlon, as well as Diamond Beach which has large chunks of ice sitting on the black sand beach.  The glacial ice is blue, and the scenery is so beautiful.

Blue Ice

Eruption
We hiked to an active volcanic eruption in Fagradalsfjall, stood next to flowing lava, felt the extremely intense heat, listened to it crackling and hissing, and it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced.

Eruption

Roaming Free
There are 2-3 sheep for every one human in Iceland.  They are everywhere! They roam free around the country and are rounded up for winter every year during a time called Rettir so they can survive the harsh winter season.  The sheep in Iceland are the exact same genetic breed from when the vikings settled in Iceland in the year 874.

Roaming Free

ABOUT THIS ALBUM 
Iceland is a small island in the North Atlantic Ocean that boasts a dramatic landscape of volcanoes, black sand beaches, green moss covered lava rocks, thousands of waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, dramatic sea cliffs, towering mountain ranges, and breathtaking scenery.  It is one of my all time favorite places and I’ve visited there twice, with my sister, in February 2016 and September 2021.  The first trip was during winter and we stayed in Reykjavik and took excursions to see various areas of the Southern Coastline.  The second trip was during the late summer into the beginning of fall, and we travelled around the entire country exploring as many areas as we could see in two weeks. During these trips we hiked to dozens of waterfalls, stood next to an erupting volcano and active lava flow, explored the isolated back county, rode in a zodiac on the bouncy rolling ocean waves to see wild sea life, saw the northern lights, were almost blown away by gale force winds, explored an ice cave inside a glacier, soaked in geothermal lagoons, saw hundreds of horses and sheep that are unique to Iceland, ate delicious food, and we had an absolute blast.  These were two of my all time favorite sister vacations, and I wrote an entire album of music to share what we experienced there. Please enjoy my twenty-third album, Iceland.

Gale Force

Icelandic Rain   The rain in Iceland is sharp and stinging and misty and all-encompassing.  It rains frequently, contributing to the vibrant green colors in Iceland.

Icelandic Rain

Hestur
The Icelandic word for horse is Hestur.  The horses in Iceland are small, sturdy, hardy, and beautiful.  They are a breed of horse unique to Iceland.

Icelan

Hestur

Aurora
Iceland is very close to the earth’s northern pole, and you can often see the Northern Lights there, weather and cloud cover permitting.  This song is about seeing the Aurora on one clear but windy night during our visit.

Aurora

Just Above the Horizon
Because Iceland sits at such a high latitude, the sun doesn’t rise very high in the sky.  It casts a very beautiful soft golden light all day long, like an all day sunrise or sunset.

Just Above The Horizon

ABOUT THIS ALBUM
This "Top 20" album is a collection of my most popular songs from 2008 to 2015.  These are the most played songs on Pandora Radio and Spotify, as well as the most purchased songs on iTunes, Amazon and directly from my website.  All songs have been re-recorded and remastered to have a clean and consistent sound, and they all have a fresh, new touch to them as well.  Enjoy.
 
A NOTE OF VERY SPECIAL THANKS
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my fans, followers, and listeners for making these songs and my music a part of your lives.  It is solely because of you that these songs are "hits" and this album is a possibility.  You continue to support my art and my passion, and you encourage and inspire me to keep sharing my creations with you.  If I could hug you all, I would.  Thank you!!!
 
All songs composed, produced and performed by Michele McLaughlin www.michelemclaughlin.com 
Recorded on Michele's Fazioli F212 grand piano at her home in Salt Lake City, UT.  
Mastered and engineered by Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studios in Sedona, AZ www.pianohaven.com  
Artwork and design by Matt Strieby at Newleaf Design www.newleafdesign.com
Piano maintained and tuned by Rick Baldassin at Baldassin Pianos www.baldassinpianos.com 
Manufactured at Diskmakers www.diskmakers.com 
 
Copyright © 2015.  All Rights Reserved (ASCAP)
www.michelemclaughlin.com 

17 - The Eternal City

16 - The Druid's Prayer

10 - Melancholy Snowfall

9 - Irish Rain

8 - Full Of Love

7 - Finn McCool

4 - Celtic Christmas

2 - Across The Burren

1 - A Beautiful Distraction

The Aurora Borealis starts as a flicker in the night sky, and then grows into a spectacular and mystifying light show, before it finishes as a flicker of light disappearing into the darkness.

Composed and performed by Michele McLaughlin
Mastered and engineered by Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studio
Piano: Fazioli F212
Artwork and design by Michele McLaughlin
All Rights Reserved © 2018
http://www.michelemclaughlin.com

Northern Lights

The cold, icy landscape during winter portrays a feeling of isolation and loneliness, yet it is stunning and captivating in its raw beauty. It leaves us with a feeling of exquisite sadness while we wait in anticipation of the coming spring. 

Composed and performed by Michele McLaughlin
Mastered and engineered by Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studio
Piano: Fazioli F212
Artwork and design by Michele McLaughlin
All Rights Reserved © 2018
www.michelemclaughlin.com

Watch the video here:  https://youtu.be/qYMW5UEzKqA

Winter

Loneliness can be soul crushing.  When you just want to have a companion... someone to share life with... but you're alone and have no-one.  This song is what that loneliness feels like.

Alone

Michele McLaughlin is a Contemporary Solo Pianist & Composer. She has released twenty-three albums, many of which have received multiple nominations and awards.  She has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, has nearly 2 Billion Spins on streaming platforms, and is a multi Billboard Charting pianist.  Her original solo piano compositions are often described as "musical storytelling" and are haunting and contagious, relaxing and beautiful, peaceful and touching, energetic and inspiring. Her music is a regular favorite on Pandora Radio and is a bestseller on iTunes and Amazon, often landing her in the Top Ten New Age Charts. You can listen to Michele online via Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, Pandora Radio, iTunes Radio, Spotify, XM/Sirius and Music Choice Soundscapes.
 
"McLaughlin is what I refer to as a "heart on her sleeve" composer, i.e. there is no subterfuge, no subtlety at work in her music - she presents her emotional intent of a song forthwith and front and center. It's a testament to her considerable talent that this baring of her soul always works so well, because in the hands of a lesser talent, the music would be melodramatic, overly self-conscious, and would grow tiresome. However, it's not just her technique and artistry, which is impossible to ignore, but also her artist's soul, which seems woven into every piece of music she writes.  No matter how pyrotechnic she can be (and this woman can really play piano with the best of 'em), there is always the presence of heart, sometimes "in your face" and sometimes between the lines, but never hidden behind artifice."  Bill Binkelman- Wind & Wire and Zone Music Reporter

Michele McLaughlin

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