Billy McLaughlin’s inspiring story has been the subject of an award- winning PBS documentary and a recent segment on the CBS Early Show. He will be in Asheville at the Unitarian Church at 8 p.m. on October 1 for a benefit concert for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

“After a hand injury in 1997,” says Billy, "I began to really struggle with playing solo guitar. It wasn’t just the swollen knuckles. Something had crept into my hand, my wrist, my arm ... an unwanted guest that wouldn’t leave.”

It was causing his fingers to suddenly curl which caused his music to veer out of control. “Audiences cringed,” says Billy. Slowly, his 20- year musical career—in which he astounded audiences worldwide with his complex and rhythmic music— ground to a halt.

A subsequent diagnosis revealed his problem to be focal dystonia (sometimes referred to as “writer’s cramp”), an incurable neuromuscular disease. It is a diagnosis dreaded by all musicians because it causes practiced movements to become unpredictable and frustrating. Although the dystonia continues to affect him every day, Billy found an amazing way around it. He has painstakingly taught himself to play left-handed.

Tickets for this benefit concert are $35 and are available online at billymclaughlin.com and at the door.