Mac McAnally

Mac McAnally is a musician who has found success in practically everything he's tried. He has released more than a dozen albums as a critically acclaimed solo artist, as well as charting several country singles. As a songwriter, McAnally's material had been recorded by Nashville hitmakers including Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, T.G. Sheppard, Charley Pride, Alabama, and David Allan Coe. As a producer, he's worked with Sawyer Brown, Ricky Skaggs, Restless Heart, and Little Feat. As a session musician, he's played on recordings with Linda Ronstadt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, and Amy Grant. And he's been touring the world as part of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band since the 1990s. McAnally's warm, insightful, and carefully observed songwriting first caught the attention of critics and fans with his self-titled debut album in 1997, while 1992's Live and Learn was the work of a more seasoned songwriter with a better grasp of studio technique, and 2009's Down by the River showed he was continuing to grow as an artist more than 30 years on from his debut. Mac McAnally was born, in Red Bay, Alabama. Singing in church throughout childhood, at age eight he began taking piano lessons and within five years was performing professionally. McAnally later took up guitar and at 15 he composed his first song, "People Call Me Jesus." After quitting high school he went to work as a session player at Muscle Shoals' Wishbone Studios; one night, during a break in a Hank Williams, Jr. date, McAnally began playing some of his own original material, and he so impressed producers Terry Woodford and Clayton Ivey that they convinced Williams to record his tune "I Need You Tonight." Signing to Ariola Records America, McAnally issued his self-titled debut album in 1977, scoring a crossover hit with the single "It's a Crazy World" and touring in support of Randy Newman. Acclaimed for the richly literary appeal of his songcraft, McAnally returned in 1978 with No Problem Here (released by Ariola), followed two years later by Cuttin' Corners (his first album for RCA Victor); neither sold as well as his debut, but he remained one of Nashville's most sought-after writers, penning material for Buffett ("It's My Job") and Alabama (the chart-topping "Old Flame"). In the wake of 1983's Nothin' But the Truth (his first for Geffen), McAnally did not release another new LP until Finish Lines five years later. In the interim, he was penning more hits for Buffett ("When the Coast Is Clear") and Ricky Van Shelton ("Crime of Passion"). With 1990's Simple Life, he returned to the charts with the single "Back Where I Come From," and a year later he authored the Steve Wariner smash "It's a Precious Thing." McAnally's second album for Geffen, 1992's Live and Learn, generated the minor hits "The Trouble with Diamonds" and "Junk Cars," and two years later he resurfaced with Knots, for MCA. 1994 also was the year McAnally signed on to play guitar and sing backing vocals in Buffett's Coral Reefer Band; he would become Buffett's on-stage foil and a valued part of his studio production team. As a solo artist, McAnally remained silent until releasing Word of Mouth in mid-1999; it was followed in 2004 by Semi-True Stories, issued by Buffett's Mailboat label. In 2007, McAnally was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Down by the River appeared in 2009 from Show Dog Nashville. He switched back to Mailboat for 2011's Live from Muscle Shoals, which captured a special performance staged as part of the W.C. Handy Music Festival in 2010. He was also voted Musician of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards in 2010; he would win the award each year until 2018. A studio set for the label called AKA Nobody arrived in 2015, followed by 2017's Southbound: The Orchestra Project, in which he re-recorded some of his most memorable songs with new arrangements for horns and strings. In 2020, McAnally delivered Once in a Lifetime, a set of songs he penned with intimate, stripped-down arrangements in mind. ~ Jason Ankeny & Mark Deming, Rovi