Poets and Prophets: Salute to Legendary Songwriter Pat McLaughlin

The Museum will feature celebrated singer, songwriter and guitarist Pat McLaughlin in an upcoming program for its in-depth interview series Poets and Prophets. McLaughlin is one of three 2026 honorees chosen by the museum. The series features songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music. The program will take place Saturday, Oct. 3, at 2:30 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater.

The interview will be moderated by Museum Writer-Editor Allison Moorer and will be illustrated with rare photos, film and recordings. After the program, McLaughlin will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters.

Poets and Prophets is included with museum admission and free to museum members. Seating is limited, and a program ticket is required for admittance. Tickets for the McLaughlin program will go on sale to the public on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 10 a.m. here.

McLaughlin is the third and final songwriter to be honored this year as part of the museum’s Poets and Prophets series. Josh Osborne was featured on Feb. 21, and Ashley Gorley was honored on May 30.

McLaughlin arrived in Nashville in 1977, after living in San Francisco and Boston. The Waterloo, Iowa, native was drawn in by the city’s diverse musical community, and he immersed himself in music at night and earned a living through carpentry work during the day. McLaughlin experienced his first significant success as a songwriter in 1987, when Steve Wariner took “Lynda” to #1 on the country charts.

While continuing to supply songs for other artists, McLaughlin has released ten albums of his own as a solo artist. His most recent is Nashville After Dark (2025). He has also recorded collaborative albums such as Tiny Town (1998), a self-titled work by a one-off supergroup with Tommy Malone and Johnny Ray Allen of the Subdudes, and drummer Kenneth Blevins; and The World Famous Headliners (2011), which featured band members Big Al Anderson, Shawn Camp, Greg Morrow and Michael Rhodes.

Among the many notable songs McLaughlin has written are “Tell Me About It,” a #4 country duet hit for Country Music Hall of Fame member Tanya Tucker and Delbert McClinton; “Firecracker,” a #2 country hit for Josh Turner; “Songs About Rain,” a #12 hit for Gary Allan; and “Years,” the title track from John Anderson’s critically acclaimed comeback album. McLaughlin’s songs have also been recorded by a wide range of artists including Dan Auerbach (“Waiting on a Song”), Phoebe Bridgers (“Summer’s End”), Marcus King (“How Long”), Taj Mahal (“Don’t Tell Me”), Bonnie Raitt (“Two Lights in the Nighttime”), and Lee Ann Womack (“The Wrong Girl”).

A regular band member and collaborator with the late John Prine, McLaughlin co-wrote many songs with Prine, including five tracks on Prine’s last album, The Tree of Forgiveness. McLaughlin won a Grammy for Best American Roots Song and the Americana Music Association’s Song of the Year award for co-writing Prine’s final recorded song, “I Remember Everything,” in 2021.

Membership must be active through the program date to reserve. Members may reserve tickets here at 10 a.m. beginning on Wednesday, August 19.

Non-members may purchase Museum admission and reserve tickets here to the program at 10 a.m. beginning on Thursday, August 20.