Lafayette’s Lane Mack is on a roll.
So far, 2015 has been a good year for Lafayette native, blues vocalist and guitarist Lane McDonald, known musically as Lane Mack. In the past month, the 28-year-old has played an internationally acclaimed music festival and released his first album, which quickly reached the top of the music charts.
McDonald has been in the music business for years: He began playing guitar at age 13 and started performing in various bands around age 16. In 2007, he and his brother, Billy McDonald, created Sons of Voodoo. In 2013, Lane Mack was born.
“Lane Mack came about at the tail end of 2013,” says McDonald. “I was writing songs and not playing them live and decided it was time to do something with them … with an extra little push of encouragement from my wife, of course.”
In March of this year, Lane Mack played the Colorado Club at South by Southwest 2015 Music, Film and Interactive Festival with brother Billy on bass and cousin Hunter Romero on drums.
“I always normally have a three-piece, which includes Sean Bruce and JD Mahoney,” says McDonald. “But we add members here and there. I also do solo stuff sometimes. Billy and Hunter filled in for South by Southwest.”
On April 7, Lane Mack released his first album, and the self-titled record quickly jumped to No. 2 on iTunes Charts: Top 40 Blues Albums. For the album, McDonald pulled together other Lafayette-based talent like Roddie Romero (accordion), Julie Williams (vocals), Sean Bruce (drums) and more and recorded the songs at Dockside Studio in Maurice and Leap Studios in Lafayette.
While Lane Mack does not have any tours currently planned, he is playing gigs here and there around Lafayette. He is also going to be featured in the KRVS Local Produce Live Series, which will be available on KRVS.org and YouTube. In the meantime, check out his album on iTunes.