02/22/2026
The older I get, the more I realize how blessed my life has been. The Tres Amigos concert series was never planned, it just morphed - out of a series of opportunities that presented themselves. Each time a door was cracked or a window was opened, we took advantage of it. Those opportunities consummated into one incredible evening last night. Mac McAnally‘s magical ability to hold an audience in in the palm of his hand for two hours was on full display last night at the UCO Jazz Lab - the "Best Place to See a Music Event in OKC" - or so it has been awarded by multiple publications on numerous occassions.
He began by introducing the much awarded percussionist, and fellow "Coral Re**er" drummer, Eric Darken, who brought an assembly of pots, pans, springs, hubcaps and other items you wouldn’t expect to see on a drum kit, or anywhere else on a stage in the world! But their chemistry held the audience in an amazing Svengali trance for over two hours as they performed songs that McAnally either wrote personally, or had combined with his best friend, Jimmy Buffett, over the years.
The evening consisted of 21 total songs, that I won’t (because I can’t remember them all) list everyone. After starting with a jazzy version of “Blame it on New Orleans,” (one of his) he followed with an amazing medley he created of “Over the Rainbow” into “Grapefruit Juicy Fruit.” Followed by “Coast is Clear,” “Changing Channels” (off his new album), and “It’s My Job,” all three songs he wrote with Jimmy Buffett. He performed “Down the Road,” a No.1 hit by Kenny Chesney that was followed by two covers the “Parrotheads” in the audience cheerfully sang along to; ‘Come Monday,” and “Boat Drinks.” He performed his version of “Little Martha (with a Mac on the Side),” a Gregg Allman piece that was originally recorded using two guitars, he used only one! He sensitively sang the heart wrenching solo on “All these Years,” another No. 1 song he wrote for Sawyer Brown, and ‘He went to Paris,”(Bob Dylan’s favorite Buffet tune) and then brought Darken back on stage. Together they exploded with a funky version of “Junk Cars." Then Mac went electric with a “Muscle Shoals” Motown version of “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” where he played both guitar and the 9’-0” Steinway at the same time! After a standing ovation from the crowd, he ended the extraordinary evening with one of Buffet’s last gifts to the world, “Bubbles Up,” followed by his own song “Back Where I Come From,” (another No. 1 with Kenny Chesney, and closed with the now timeless classic “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”
For the audience, it was pure joy on the stage while Mac shared stories about writing songs, and the origins and meanings of those songs over the years. With the passing of John Prine, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jimmy Buffett, Mac McAnally remains as one of the pre-iminate troubadours in Americana music. He’s a poignant storyteller, great singer and incredible musician. The concert was really quite simple – primarily Mac singing, playing a guitar or the piano, and the percussionist, Darken, keeping every song syncopated. Who needs a full band when you can produce the amazing amount of music those two individuals can? Together, they become a duo as potent, and producing more music, as any two individuals I’ve ever heard.
On what I consider a monumental night in the history of the 24 years of Tres Amigos concerts, Mac McAnally made everyone feel a communal spirituality of love, laughter, church and family - exactly what I wanted to fulfill while checking off a bucket list moment in my life in a small music venue in downtown Edmond. And I know, everyone in that SOLD-OUT audience, felt just as blessed and fortunate as I did!
