Featured Artist: Randy Mac

Randy Mac won't talk much about the time in his life filled with 3-piece bands, album recordings, a record label signing and music awards. And he won't talk much about life off stage. Self-promotion? Not for him. Because what's important, what truly makes him happy, is happening now--playing music live.

"I've got chapters of history, but when I come to Key West, it's irrelevant," Randy Mac said.

Seven years ago, he left Montreal to get away from the cold and ended up in Key West, cruising down Duval Street in his VW bus, kiteboard locked and loaded. Within a week, he had his first solo gig.

Randy Mac's repertoire--he plays the acoustic guitar, harmonica and bass--includes his own versions of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Stone Temple Pilots, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hendrix, Clapton, Neil Young, and Stevie Ray Vaughan among others.

"I survive without playing the local shtick," Randy Mac told us. "I know that it's authentic and sought after; songs that everyone knows but not what people play on the streets."

Needless to say, he doesn't play songs he doesn't like.

"I'm singing and playing four hours every day, but I'm listening, too," Randy Mac said.

With almost three decades of playing professionally under his belt, he's performed on stages from the Virgin Islands and Austria to Switzerland, France and Italy. But he keeps coming back to Key West.

"I'm doing what I want to do and it's getting better every year," he said.



Randy Mac plays tonight at Island Dogs from 8 p.m. and again on April 28. He doesn't play often, so be sure to check him out!

Here's Randy rockin' out on the acoustic guitar, playing it with a violin bow!