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Mac McAnally’s His Own Man

Posted: April 2nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm | By: Alison Bonaguro

Read the CMT blog online here.

I admit I was a little late jumping on the Mac McAnally bandwagon. I had even blogged that I’d never heard of him, despite his decades in the music business, until Kenny Chesney lured this singer/songwriter into a duet on “Down the Road.”

I thought McAnally was pretty good then. But now? Now I am not only on that bandwagon, I am driving it. I just listened to his new single, “You First,” and thought to myself, “Now this is a country song.” It’s quiet with very sparse music. So instead of layers and layers of guitars filling the space, it’s the story of a man who finds out what he’s made of every time he has to say, “You first.” And that voice. That perfect haunting voice. It’s somewhere between Keith Whitley and Dan Fogelberg, God rest their souls.

McAnally has done the solo artist thing before, beginning back in the ’70s. And he’s definitely done a bit of label-jumping. Ultimately, it seems like he found the bulk of his success as a songwriter and a musician. What’s different this time is that he has Toby Keith in his corner. Keith must’ve heard the potential in McAnally when he signed him to his Show Dog Nashville record label. “There’s nobody more respected, at least when it comes to musicians and people who really know this business, than Mac McAnally. Getting to be a part of whatever Mac wants to do is an honor for me, and for everyone at the label,” Keith said.

Go listen to the song — all the way through until the bittersweet ending. And tell me you aren’t counting down the days until his full album comes out.

"You First" is Mac McAnally's introductory single from his upcoming debut album on Show Dog Nashville. This mid-tempo composition recalls a poignant series of events about love and courage experienced throughout a lifetime. Mac recently wrote and was the duet partner on the chart topping #1 hit with Kenny Chesney "Down the Road."