With a new album in tow, and his first tour in more than 10 years, Lancaster musician Terian Mack is having a big year.
Mack, 31, strives to support other artists in his own artistic pursuits. He says for any momentum he gets in the music world, he returns the favor for local creatives by bringing them along to events and opening doors for them, too.
“The more opportunity that comes my way is really just benefiting everyone else,” Mack says.
And that’s reflected in his approach to an upcoming tour, which will feature up-and-coming acts.
Mack operates under his own LLC, called Larger Than Life, which essentially operates like a record label created by Mack that he’s also signed to. He’s able to add other people to the label, too, though that hasn’t happened yet.
As a musician and an entrepreneur, Mack does a little bit of everything. He writes songs, he produces, he mixes and records. He’ll even help to curate the lineups for music nonprofit Music For Everyone’s Music Friday events, which return May 16.
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Before Music Friday’s return, and Mack’s upcoming tour, his new album, “Is Anyone There?” comes out Monday.
To tease the album, he played a hangman-type game on Instagram, where people guessed letters in the album title’s name for a chance to win tickets to Hersheypark and a pizza from Lancaster-based Pizzeria 211.
Mack says that his album was highly inspired by “The Truman Show,” a 1998 film starring Jim Carrey about a man who realizes that his life has been unknowingly televised.
“(It’s) feeling like a lot of things happen to you in life and just like, what is going on, you know? Is somebody there?” Mack says. The album features 10 songs, and doesn’t feature a lot of skits or interludes, Mack says.
It’s a collection of songs that he made to celebrate another achievement — getting a publishing deal with online music distribution company UnitedMasters, which would allow his music to be pitched for commercials or movies.
This publishing deal helps him, and others he works with, get paid if one of their songs is chosen for projects.
“I could have written 50 songs for 50 other artists and not be (credited) on the songs,” Mack says. “My name’s not attached to it, but I wrote them.”
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Going on tour
Mack will go on his “Larger Than Life — Open Mic Tour” from June 20-27, hitting five cities in seven days.
It kicks off in Lancaster at Penn Square from 5:30-8 p.m. June 20. The tour continues to New York on June 24; Philadelphia on June 25; Richmond, Virginia, on June 26; and Atlanta on June 27.
Before the tour, Mack established relationships with creative communities in each city to shore up venues that made sense, and connect with different artists in each area. He also offered the opportunity for musicians, both local and not local, to apply to be part of the tour and travel in the van with him.
Each night will feature a core group of performers, which has yet to be announced, and then each concert will feature the opportunity for the city’s local musicians to sign up for an open mic as openers.
Riley Brubaker, who performs under the name Riley Tortora, will go on tour with Lancaster musician Terian Mack this summer.
Lancaster Catholic High School graduate Riley Brubaker — who performs as Riley Tortora and will join Mack on the tour — helped coordinate a lot of the tour’s logistics.
“To do the tour and show people in Lancaster what we’re already doing, but add them to the fun, is a great thing to be able to do,” Brubaker says.
Brubaker, 21, currently lives in Philadelphia and works as a musician and as an intern for music agency Taste Creators. He also works in the restaurant industry.
Brubaker describes his music style as rock and alternative music that’s bold and emphasizes freedom.
“I like to make songs that are liberating,” Brubaker says. He wants to encourage people to “live a life that they want to, that aligns with them, even if it’s not the norm.”
Mack credits the local community, including Brubaker, for helping him launch his album and kickstart this tour.
“I’m the type that, I always find a way to get stuff done regardless. Like, if I have your support or not, I’m doing this,” Mack says. “But, I have the support. … It feels good.”
