Mississippi’s Own Mac McAnally Performs at iMPAC on July 27

Singer-songwriter Mac McAnally, longtime guitarist for the late Jimmy Buffett and one of the most revered musicians in Nashville, will perform in concert with some of his Coral Reefer buddies and a symphony orchestra on Saturday, July 27, at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Fellow members of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band will join McAnally along with the FestivalSouth Orchestra. The show will take place on the Mississippi Power Stage at the Immersive Media Performing Arts Center (iMPAC) on the college’s Harrison County Campus.

Show will begin at 7 p.m. Ticket prices range from $45-$80 and will go on sale on Friday May 17 at 10 a.m. They are available through mgccc.showare.com or impacgulfcoast.com.

McAnally, who grew up in Belmont, Mississippi, became a full-time Coral Reefer in 1998. He has written or co-written hit songs for Buffett and many others, including the number one singles “Down the Road” (Kenny Chesney), “Old Flame” (Alabama), and “Thank God for You” (Sawyer Brown). He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The FestivalSouth Orchestra consists of faculty, students, and alumni from The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

“I’m interested in all kinds of music,” McAnally says. “There’s obviously some Buffett influence on a few of the things, and I’ve been playing country music and gospel music all my life, so there’s that influence, too.”

Since he was a teenager, he has played on recordings for such artists as Toby Keith, Linda Ronstadt, George Strait, and Dolly Parton. He has also released 15 albums of his own. His peers in the Country Music Association have voted him Musician of the Year 10 times.

After Buffett’s death last September, the Coral Reefer Band decided to follow one of his last instructions and “keep the party going” with concerts celebrating his legacy and that of the band itself, which began backing the singer in the 1970s.

That fits with McAnally’s own look-on-the-bright side attitude about life. As he says, “I hope there’s something in what I do that in some way can make someone else’s life a little bit better.”

To purchase tickets for this and other MGCCC performances, visit mgccc.showare.com. For more information, contact the box office at 228.896.2541 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

For more about iMPAC, see impacgulfcoast.com. The center is at 409 Debuys Road in Gulfport.