Record setting ten-time Country Music Association Musician of the Year, Mac McAnally is a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee. Additionally, he is in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The renowned songwriter, singer, and instrumentalist has written dozens of hit records for other artists, several of which peaked at Number One. He has written hits for Alabama, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, and Sawyer Brown, and has studio credits that include albums by Toby Keith, Linda Ronstadt, George Strait and Dolly Parton among many others.

McAnally notes that he typically sees three kinds of people at his shows. Those who have followed his career since his 1977 debut album. Those who recognize him as the guitarist in Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. And those who remember his notable credits in country music. The latter category is particularly impressive, with songs cut by Alabama (“Old Flame”), Kenny Chesney (“Back Where I Come From”), Sawyer Brown (“All These Years”), Shenandoah (“Two Dozen Roses”) and many others.

McAnally became a journeyman storyteller and musician. Also, he was an occasional, then full-time Coral Reefer, and duet partner on Nanci Griffith’s seminal “Gulf Coast Highway.” He can talk about recording the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans and Jimmy Buffett’s vocals in Key West. Then, he marvels about Kenny Chesney driving to Canada and back to see a girl listening to Mac’s Simple Life the entire way. He talks about, “ridiculous things. I’ve gotten to open shows for Willie Nelson, play with Ray Charles and talk music with Sir Paul McCartney. I don’t mean to name drop, but I love all those people and their music.”