American heartland singer-songwriter and pianist Jon McLaughlin - whose show-stopping live performance of "So Close," the Oscar-nominated song from the Disney movie Enchanted, was seen world¬wide during the 80th annual Academy Awards ceremonies - has returned with OK NOW, his second album for Island Records, due October 7th. Fans are getting a sample with the release of a new single, "Beating My Heart," which impacted at the Hot AC radio format on June 9th.

"Beating My Heart" was written by Jon McLaughlin and produced by John Fields, known for his recent chart-topping work with the Jonas Brothers, Lifehouse, and Switchfoot. The new album is being mixed by Tom Lord-Alge and will feature the soon-to-be hit "Smack In To You," written and produced by the Grammy award-winning team of Tricky and The-Dream.

Jon's triumphant Oscar night performance ignited an astonishing 1,514% overnight sales increase at Amazon for Indiana, which neatly took over the #1 spot on the Movers & Shakers chart. "Musically, the big winner of the night was Jon McLaughlin," wrote FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman in his Oscars coverage. "He sang one of the Enchanted songs. Talk about a break-out moment! That's a phenomenal voice... McLaughlin could be the next big thing."

Indiana, Jon McLaughlin's first major label album, received maximum exposure on tours with Sara Bareilles last summer, Paolo Nutini in the fall, and then climaxing with Kelly Clarkson on her 24-city North American tour, October through December.

Named one of "The 10 Hot Guys of Summer" by US Weekly magazine last year, Jon was also seen performing on the CBS-TV daytime drama The Bold & The Beautiful, on NBC's The Today Show and on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Jon McLaughlin Photos