From the Advocate: Jimmy Buffett sideman Mac McAnally steps to the spotlight, but is still ‘bragging on Jim’
Mac McAnally hasn’t performed in Baton Rouge since his 2010 guest appearance with Kenny Chesney at Bayou Country Superfest in Tiger Stadium.
McAnally — a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who worked with the late Jimmy Buffett for more than 40 years — joined Superfest headliner Chesney for their McAnally-composed hit duet, “Down the Road.”
Roles reversed in January when Chesney made a guest appearance at McAnally’s headlining debut at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. They reprised “Down the Road” and sang Buffett’s songs “Come Monday” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” The special night also featured a partial reunion of the Coral Reefer Band, with percussionist Eric Darken and guitarist Peter Mayer joining McAnally, their fellow Buffett band member, on stage.
McAnally previously appeared at the revered former home of the Grand Ole Opry as a sideman and opening act. His sold-out first time topping the Ryman bill was an honor he never thought possible.
“I used to sit on the porch with my dad in Mississippi, listening to what was going on at the Ryman, with my head up against the radio,” he said. “I never imagined I’d be in the audience, let alone on the stage.”
McAnally’s Ryman show was poignant for another reason — he’d originally planned to join Buffett there for the Parrott Head king’s Ryman debut.
“We plotted different versions of how Jimmy was going to play the Ryman,” McAnally recalled. “He wanted it to be special. We booked it a couple of different times. The pandemic took it down one time. His medical treatment took it down the last time. We never got it done.”
Buffett died of skin cancer in 2023 at 76 years old. Although he wasn’t physically at McAnally’s Ryman debut, McAnally believes the spirit of his almost big brother was present.
“I put Jimmy’s guitar and his microphone in the middle of the stage,” McAnally said. “I played off to the side, just like I’m more comfortable doing. He was there. Everybody I talked to who was there feels the same way.”
McAnally’s friendship with Buffett began in the mid-1970s, shortly before the still-struggling singer recorded his “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” album and its breakthrough hit, “Margaritaville.”
McAnally’s decades of studio work with Buffett began in 1980. Buffett featured a McAnally composition, “It’s My Job,” on his 1981 album, “Coconut Telegraph.” Their acoustic tour together in 1989 preceded McAnally joining the Coral Reefer Band in 1992. He later produced albums for Buffett as well as Toby Keith, Chris LeDoux, George Strait, Amy Grant, Sawyer Brown, Martina McBride and more.
McAnally’s concerts feature songs from his 16-album solo career, Buffett classics and hits he’s written for others, such as Alabama’s “Old Flame,” Shenandoah’s “Two Dozen Roses” and Sawyer Brown’s “Thank God for You.” He’s accompanied by Darken, the Buffett bandmate who plays an array of percussion instruments.
After being behind the scenes as a session musician for country stars, a supporting player for Buffett and a songwriter and producer, the 67-year-old McAnally is solo more now than ever.
“I did 80 shows last year, mostly bragging on Jimmy,” he said. “I’ve always bragged on Jim, but I’ve got more reason to these days. He’s not getting to run the regular lap that we always ran together. I sing his songs and I meet the fans who made a lifetime habit of following his music.”
A professional musician since he was 13, McAnally sees his life in music as a gift.
“A lot of blessings all piled next to me,” he said.
The blessings began with growing up in a musical family in the tiny city of Belmont, Tishomingo County, Mississippi. Music became the shy youngster’s conduit to the world. By his teens, he was playing studio sessions in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, one of the 1960s and ’70s major recording centers.
“I was such a bashful kid,” he said. “I didn’t have the nerve to go to Nashville or Atlanta or New Orleans or L.A. or New York or Chicago. But I could go to Muscle Shoals, fail and be home by suppertime. That geography was necessary for us to be having this conversation these many years later.”
Mac McAnally
8 p.m. Saturday
L’Auberge Event Center, 777 L’Auberge Ave., Baton Rouge
$30-$125