Shane McAnally

Shane Lamar McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He debuted as a singer in 1999 with his self-titled album on Curb Records. This project produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including "Are Your Eyes Still Blue".

After a hiatus from music, McAnally returned to songwriting, having his first major success with "Last Call" by Lee Ann Womack in 2008. From the early 2010s onward, McAnally has worked almost exclusively as a songwriter and producer. Artists with whom he has worked include Old Dominion, Midland, and Kacey Musgraves. He has won four Grammy Awards and multiple awards from the Country Music Association (CMA). In 2023, he collaborated with Brandy Clark in writing the musical Shucked.

Musical career

Shane Lamar McAnally was born October 12, 1974, in Mineral Wells, Texas.

McAnally and music producer Rich Herring recorded a demo of a song that McAnally had written. The song, "Just One Touch", earned McAnally a publishing deal as well as a recording contract with Curb Records. In 1999, McAnally signed with Curb and began recording his first album for the label as well as his first single. "Say Anything" was released in 1999 as his debut single. The song peaked at No. 41 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The follow-up single, "Are Your Eyes Still Blue", became his only top 40 single as a singer, peaking at No. 31. McAnally charted a third and final time with "Run Away", which reached No. 50. All three tracks appeared on a self-titled debut album released on Curb in 2000 before he left the label.

Songwriting

In 2001, McAnally moved to Los Angeles. He composed six songs for the soundtrack of 2007 independent film Shelter, credited as Shane Mack.

Returning to Nashville in late 2007, McAnally began writing songs for other artists, starting with "Last Call", released by Lee Ann Womack in 2008. McAnally stars as one of the on-screen talent producers in the NBC television reality series Songland. In 2019, McAnally won the ACM Award for Songwriter of the Year and Grammy Award for Best Country Song for co-writing Kacey Musgraves's "Space Cowboy." Most recently, he was named as one of Billboard's 2020 Country Power Players and chosen as the recipient of the 2020 Billboard Trailblazer Award, held only by previous winners Reba McEntire and Florida Georgia Line.

McAnally received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on songs by Brandy Clark, Walker Hayes, Lauren Daigle, Old Dominion, Alex Newell, Niall Horan, Sam Hunt, Carly Pearce, and Chris Stapleton, as well as a nomination for Best Musical Theater Album for his work on Shucked.

Personal life McAnally told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2020 that he struggled with his sexuality for many years while working in Nashville, as he knew that no country music singers were openly gay at the time. At the time, he was dating a woman to whom he later came out, although he kept his orientation hidden from others and later referred to his girlfriend as a "beard". After exiting Curb in 2000, McAnally decided to come out while living in West Hollywood, California, a city he knew was more accepting of the gay community. He worked songwriter shows there and chose to return to Nashville due to his enjoyment of music. In January 2017, the two were legally married by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry.

Discography and videography

Title Details Shane McAnally Release date: October 24, 2000 Label: Curb Formats: CD, cassette

Singles Year Single Peak chartpositions Album US Country CAN Country 1999 "Say Anything" 41 46 Shane McAnally "Are Your Eyes Still Blue" 31 47 2000 "Run Away" 50 57 "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos Year Video Director 1999 "Say Anything" Chris Rogers 2008 "Lie To Me" (as Shane Mack)

Producing discography McAnally has produced or co-produced the following works: Year Artist Type Project 2013 Kelly Clarkson Track "Tie It Up" Kacey Musgraves Album Same Trailer Different Park 2014 Sam Hunt Album Montevallo Old Dominion Track "Dirt on a Road" EP Old Dominion EP 2015 Kacey Musgraves Album Pageant Material Track "A Spoonful of Sugar" Old Dominion Album Meat and Candy Jake Owen Track "Real Life"2016 Midland EP Midland EP Jake Owen Album American Love Artists of Then, Now & Forever Single "Forever Country"2017 Candi Carpenter Single "Burn the Bed" Walker Hayes Album boom. Midland On the Rocks Old Dominion Happy Endings 2018 Walker Hayes Single "90's Country" Little Big Town "Summer Fever" Old Dominion "Make It Sweet" Teddy Robb "Lead Me On" Brandon Ratcliff "Rules of Breaking Up" 2019Aloe BlaccTrack"Same Blood" Walker Hayes Single "Don't Let Her" John Legend Single "We Need Love (from Songland)" Midland "Mr. Lonely" Brandon Ratcliff Track "Number in My Phone"Teddy Robb Track "Tell Me How" Single "Really Shouldn't Drink Around You" Old Dominion Album Old Dominion 2020 Kelsea Ballerini Single "The Other Girl" (with Halsey) Walker Hayes "Trash My Heart" Lady Antebellum "Champagne Night" (From Songland) Kylie Morgan "Break Things" Kylie Morgan feat. Walker Hayes Track "Cuss a Little" Carly Pearce Single "Next Girl" Old Dominion Tracks Old Dominion: Band Behind the Curtain Brandon Ratcliff EP "Sometimes Always Never" Teddy Robb Teddy Robb - EP 2021 Walker Hayes EP Country Stuff MidlandEP The Last Resort Kylie Morgan Track Love, KylieOld Dominion Album Time, Tequila & TherapyTrack "All I Know About Girls" "Hawaii" Single "I Was on a Boat That Day"Carly Pearce Album 29: Written in Stone EP 29 Track "Dear Miss Loretta" Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde Single "Never Wanted to Be That Girl" Tigirlily Track "My Thang" EP Tigirlily EP 2022 Walker Hayes Track "Drinking Songs" "AA" "Life With You" "Delorean" "Fancy Like" "Country Stuff" (featuring Jake Owen) "I Hope You Miss Me" "Briefcase" (featuring Lori McKenna) "Make You Cry" "What If We Did" (featuring Carly Pearce)Sam Hunt "Water Under The Bridge"Midland Album "The Last Resort: Greetings From"Track "Longneck Way To Go" "The Last Resort"Kylie Morgan "Independent With You" "Love Like We're Drunk" Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde "Never Wanted to Be That Girl" (Acoustic)Kelly Clarkson, Dolly Parton "9 To 5 (From The Still Working 9 To 5 Documentary)"Kelsea Ballerini Album SUBJECT TO CHANGE 2023Sam HuntSingle"Start Nowhere"Old DominionEPMemory Lane (Sampler) EPCarly Pearce, Chris StapletonSingleWe Don't Fight Anymore

Songland McAnally was also a mentor on the songwriting competition series, Songland, which ran on NBC from 2019 to 2020. On Songland, McAnally worked alongside esteemed producers Ryan Tedder and Ester Dean, collaborating with unknown songwriters to craft hit songs. Each "winning" song is recorded by that episode's musical guest and released immediately following the episode. McAnally has described his role on the show as his "wildest dream job that I never knew I wanted." Songs co-written by McAnally as a part of his role on Songland are as follows.

Awards and nominations