Mac Chats About New Album
Mac recently talked with the Times Daily about his new album "Live In Muscle Shoals", check out what he had to say!
McAnally, who is up for his fifth CMA Award nomination for Musician of the Year at the event Nov. 9, talked about his career, his success and celebrating it all in his musical home, the Shoals.
TimesDaily: Why did you decide to record this concert for an album?
Mac McAnally: It sort of came about because the W.C. Handy folks sort of challenged me to play a little bit of everything I’ve ever done. It was fun to go through, picking something from almost every one of my records.
TD: How did you choose which songs to include?
MM: I’ve had pop deals, folk deals, country deals. They’ve always tried to wonder what bin I should go in at the music store. I like all kinds of music. (I was looking for) the best way to feature these wonderful players and singers.
The jazzy “Dark Ages” — I rarely have an opportunity to play that. It’s a hard thing to play that by yourself. (It was great) having players that were capable of doing it. “Little Blue Pill” and “Bound to Get Down” were a chance for the guitar players to shine. The encore song, “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” I don’t think I’ve ever recorded a song (like that). Muscle Shoals is I think the groove capital of the world, and that’s a groovy kind of song.
TD: What was it like being backed by players instead of being in back with them?
MM: (The band is) kind of a mish mash of session players and band mates. I wouldn’t change a thing. I thought everybody did a great job. Everybody plays live, but they’re probably more studio players. The studio guys always love a chance to get out and play live. I’m just a lucky guy to get to stand up there with them.
I’m more accustomed to being a side man myself than being a guy in the middle of the stage. It seemed appropriate to me because Muscle Shoals is my musical home; it’s where I’ve been recording and writing and dreamed up things to play since 1976. This is the place that makes the whole music deal work for me. To get to do sort of a career retrospective in that place seemed really nice — a good full circle to run in.
TD: I know the album is a collection of favorite songs of yours, but do you have any favorites among the narrowed-down list?
MM: “All These Years” is a favorite one of mine. Sawyer Brown had that single. “Down the Road” involves my kids and because it was a big hit for Kenny Chesney. Mainly because it says something I wanted to say about my family, and I think it says if fairly well. “Miracle,” I started writing that when I was 13. But I don’t even finish songs that I don’t like.
A lot of my friends who write, write really five or six times what I do. But consequently each one of them is probably more of a pet to me than the average professional songwriter. I’m very protective of them.
I’m not saying they’re all good, but they’re all important. I’ve been very blessed in the very first song I wrote was recorded on a record. I don’t have a lot of songs that haven’t found some kind of home, if not on my records at least on somebody else’s records.
TD: Had you been planning on recording a live album before this concert?
MM: It sort of popped up because of the concert. The folks that come and see regular solo shows have asked me to play a live album. But I’m always working. Because I was playing all of this diverse group of songs, (people pointed out to me), ‘You’re not going to do that probably many times in your life; you should record it.’
We were optimistically thinking we’d get a few songs. The whole show ended up feeling pretty good. Like I said, that’s my musical home, and I don’t think that’s going to change.
TD: What are you working on now?
MM: I’m in Sheffield today, working with the band Mockingbird Sun. They kind of remind me of (folk/indie band) Fleet Foxes, but with more of a country angle on them. There’s a lot of emphasis on vocal harmony, but their songwriting is probably more from a country mind-set. They’re from Texas and Tennessee.
Then, we hit the road with Buffett on Monday. ... And we are going to play a couple of Mac concerts around the release of this record. November and December, a few live shows of mine.
TD: You’ve got the CMAs coming up, too.
MM: For some reason or another, they keep nominating me. I don’t know why, but I’m awfully grateful.
TD: Is there anything you’d like to add?
MM: Just how grateful I am to have been doing it this long. Music’s my favorite thing in the world, and I am truly blessed. I try to represent how much this area means to me. I hope the live album honors that and what I feel like I’ve been given by the area over the years.
article by:Sarah Carlson
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