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Zach Mack is one of those rare creatures – a singing, songwriting bartender. The great thing is that he is skilled in all three disciplines and when he’s not serving drinks to customers, he’s entertaining them with his guitar prowess and original numbers.

Zach was born in Peterborough, Ontario but his family moved from Canada to the US when he was 12 years old – to Indiana for two years, and then Flagstaff, Arizona.

He started taking an interest in music from an early age and began playing the guitar when he was 13. His parents performed with wedding bands at the time, and so once he became proficient he joined them at their gigs.

When he was 23, Zach moved to the Cayman Islands to seek his fortune. His brother was already working here, so the choice made sense. He got a job at Café Del Sol as a Barista, and then went on to Aqua Beach for three years. In his first year he was a server, but got moved to a position behind the bar soon after. He also managed to hook up with some musicians and played with the hugely popular Smooth Bill Annie.

Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, and in the aftermath, residents needed a distraction from all the work of rebuilding. Zach and his father began a jam night at Aqua Beach, acoustic at first due to the lack of electricity. That night has since built to be voted the Number One Jam Night in Grand Cayman for four years running and Zach is still hosting it.

When Zach turned 26 he wanted to give the music industry a proper try, so he packed up his guitar and moved to California. After six months as a Barista in LA he realised that perhaps it would be a good idea to come back to Cayman, and that’s just what he did. He got a job at the Brickhouse, amended his permit to play music, and also got offered part-time work back at his old stomping ground of Aqua Beach. Life was good!

Zach is now playing with the EZ Street Band (he and Eden Hurlston indulge in beachy acoustic melodies) and bartending nightly. He loves the team of people he works with and has a great group of regulars that come to visit him every week. Aqua Beach allows him that musical outlet of the Jam Night each Thursday which means he’s got the best of both worlds at his fingertips.

If you want to meet a really jammin’ bartender who’s pretty quick on his feet and plays a mean guitar to boot, you need to get down to Aqua Beach and ask for Zach Mack. Whatever your favourite poison, he’s singing your tune!   WH