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Fans are finally starting to notice that Mac McAnally has been a country music mainstay for decades Date published: 9/3/2009
BY JONAS BEALS At 52, Mac McAnally is enjoying one of the best years of his career. It's an impressive feat, considering country music tends to rely on fresh talent and McAnally released his first album in 1977. "This has been an unusually fine year," he said in a recent phone interview. "The ultimate irony is that I played a 'new faces' show in Oklahoma City." McAnally may be a new face to many country fans, but he is well-known to Nashville insiders and singers who grew up on the music of Jimmy Buffett. Before his chart-topping duet with Kenny Chesney last year on "Down the Road" (which McAnally penned), he was probably best recognized as a guitarist in Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.
McAnally still tours with Buffett, and will play alongside the Mayor of Margaritaville at Nissan Pavilion tonight and Saturday. Tomorrow night, McAnally will play a gig of his own material at the State Theatre in Falls Church. In his time away from Parrothead Nation, McAnally has written, produced and played on scores of hit Nashville records for the likes of Alabama, Sawyer Brown and Ricky Skaggs. He performs alongside giants like Buffett and Chesney, but McAnally's gifts are getting harder to hide in those sizable shadows. He was named the musician of the year at the 2008 Country Music Awards. McAnally said he feels fortunate to have his new visibility and success, but was quick to explain that it doesn't come easily. "It relates to growing up as a farm kid in Mississippi," he said. "It's not a positive character trait to call attention to yourself. What do I do? Get into showbiz. It works against my nature. "In the beginning," he added, "I didn't have the nerve to call it songwriting. I was a bashful kid." In an act of extreme self-effacement, McAnally even admitted that he doesn't much like the sound of his own voice. But none of those traits affects his music, which is filled with confidence that comes from years of playing. "I did have my dues-paying gigs," he said. "But I was dumb enough to enjoy it. I was always able to learn a little something, even on a bad night."
Date published: 9/3/2009
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