{"id":16267,"date":"2025-08-08T14:20:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/?page_id=16267"},"modified":"2025-10-03T14:43:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:43:56","slug":"mac-potts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/div>
\n
\n
\n
\n

Faces Behind the Screen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mac Potts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mac Potts<\/a> is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. You may have seen him performing in various venues across the Pacific Northwest, or perhaps you recognize him from several Cut<\/a> videos, like \u201cBlind People Tell Us Which Questions Annoy Them the Most<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Return to all “Faces Behind the Screen” stories<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Keeping up with Mac is pretty easy since he\u2019s very active on his Instagram account<\/a>. You can even listen to his music on his YouTube account<\/a> or on Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it all the way to Hollywood Week! We can\u2019t wait to see what the future holds for Mac\u2019s musical career, and we have our fingers crossed that one day we\u2019ll have the pleasure of watching him perform live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Mac in the latest Faces Behind the Screen story, where he shares how his passion for music came to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part One<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What was your childhood like?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> I look back at my childhood and I really enjoyed being a 90\u2019s kid. I loved playing with toys and friends. When I was little, I was interested in figuring out how things worked. I wasn\u2019t much for building things, but I loved taking things apart and reassembling them. I loved books and read a lot with my family. I also liked listening to rock and roll and figuring out how to play my favorite tunes on the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you passionate about?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"musical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> I\u2019m passionate about making others happy with my music. I play and sing for other people\u2019s enjoyment and I take that seriously. I like being able to make people\u2019s day with my talents and it\u2019s awesome that I get to do that as my job and make a living by it. I\u2019ve got a passion for restoring older pianos. There are a lot of pianos out there that, after a little work, sound better than some newer ones on the market. It\u2019s good to know that I\u2019m saving good instruments from going to the dump and instead I can save family heirlooms and\/or hundreds of years of history. The pianos I save I either resell or donate to students or programs in my area. It\u2019s cool because other people and kids will get to make music on them and hopefully my pianos can bring them joy. I also dig jamming with other musicians and rocking out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you tell us more about your album?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> Last November I recorded some Ed Sheeran songs as a birthday present for my wife. The songs I chose kinda told our journey together musically. I was going to do more with that CD and release it but I wanted to do more with the production and my piano. I was inspired by The Piano Guys and their production to layer piano tracks and then I took it a step farther and decided to use my piano bench for percussion tracks and some studio tricks to alter the sound created from my piano. Still going with the Ed Sheeran theme, I selected songs from his records to showcase this and my voice. I began this project around the same time my wife and I found out we were expecting a baby and that inspired the name for the album: Three. It\u2019s to be released this month ( November 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your career in music come to be and where can we hear you perform?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"grand<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> I just grew up playing the piano. I first tickled the ivories in a diaper, with my hands reaching above me to play the keys with songs like Mary Had A Little Lamb. I don\u2019t remember any of it. I began taking classical lessons at 4 years old and learned everything by ear. This led me to begin playing my favorite songs off my radio which was a lot more rock and a lot less Bach. I would always sing but didn\u2019t choose to until I was 16 years old. I sang back up vocals in a blues band I was apart of. In addition to piano, I play anything that has keys\u2026 except maybe the accordion\u2026, saxophone, drums, and harmonica. I can play a little guitar and ukulele. I think my music making process is kinda just smashing it out. I put more emotion into it than that but if I\u2019ve heard it, as long as it isn\u2019t crazy classical, I can play it. Over time my arrangements develop as I continue to perform them. You can find me performing at Warehouse \u201923 in Vancouver, WA., I play various venues all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond. I\u2019m excited to release my album on digital platforms but until then, you can find my videos of me performing on YouTube and my Instagram @macpottsmusic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mac<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Part 2<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What is one of your proudest moments?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> One of my proudest moments is definitely becoming a dad and experiencing my wife become a mom. She\u2019s been amazing all throughout the pregnancy and delivering our baby and then being a great mom now. It\u2019s just awesome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you identify as blind, vision impaired, or something else?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> I\u2019m blind because I have no vision to be impaired, ha! I don\u2019t know how growing up without vision is any different, because I don\u2019t know any different. I was born with undeveloped optic nerves and missing a retina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your first memory of struggling to communicate or navigate in the world?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS: <\/strong>One of my first memories of struggling to communicate was when I rode the bus to the blind school with kids who attended the deaf school nearby\u2026 I was maybe 5 years old. I had to learn that most of them couldn\u2019t verbally communicate and I couldn\u2019t visually communicate with them. I felt lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does being blind affect you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> Being blind affects my ability to read emotional expressions visually and that makes it difficult to connect at times and not come off as impersonal or apathetic. It can make some social situations awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the best and worst thing about being blind?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS: <\/strong>The best thing about being blind: I can function in the dark better than I would if I had vision. The worst thing about being blind: Not being able to be useful in a situation when I could\u2019ve otherwise had been of help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s a common mistake sighted people make when interacting with blind\/low vision people?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> A common mistake when interacting with people who are blind\/VI is yelling directly at us like we\u2019re hard of hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mac<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Part Three<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Can you describe a moment when you felt discriminated against because of your vision loss?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> One time I was in Hawaii swimming in the ocean with my family and the lifeguard kicked me out because I was blind. He asked one of my siblings if I was blind and then he kicked me out. I definitely felt discriminated against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you wish sighted people could know about your experience?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> Something I wish sighted people would know is that I want to properly understand their emotions and be given the opportunity to react to their emotions and connect with them. Sometimes sighted people don\u2019t know how to communicate their feelings to blind people because they rely on their facial expressions instead of their words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to technology what are some everyday issues you run into that sighted people might not?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MAC POTTS:<\/strong> There are random times when the voice on one of my Apple products (watch, iPad, iPhone) will just stop working. If I have any glitches with my audio or VoiceOver, I can\u2019t access anything. If I\u2019m in a really loud environment, sometimes it\u2019s hard to hear my iPhone or reply to messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel very annoyed when I encounter inaccessible websites. Sometimes there are so many text embedded graphics\u2026 of I course don\u2019t see how they are benefitting the website but they can really get in my way. Technology helps me navigate and communicate with the world with screen readers and voice activation; I can run businesses, communicate with friends, do almost anything that is\u2026 not visual. If it isn\u2019t a visual thing, I can do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, there are some formats that aren\u2019t accessible \u2014 DocuSign, online forms, Instagram to name a few. It can hurt my ability to communicate when homophonic errors occur and some words are spelled wrong and I can\u2019t visually spell check what I write and I don\u2019t think to check it if it sounds correct when read back to me. Ex. to, too, two and 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For movies? I don\u2019t like descriptive video. Frankly, having never seen anything before, I don\u2019t care what things look like and the AD distracts from the drama and suspense of the movie. I have friends who have lost their sight, however, and I know that they sometimes do like AD for movies. I like audio description for museum tours\u2026 it\u2019s weird to have a robot speaking to me, but I roll with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For web creators, be careful with embedded text. If it can just be written out, at least have an accessible page or have the text available to read. I understand that there will be graphics and photos, but it\u2019s hard when there\u2019s so much text embedded into something like a photo or a box and isn\u2019t accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Faces Behind the Screen would like to thank Mac Potts for participating in our storytelling project. If you\u2019re interested in sharing your story with us, fill out our nomination form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keeping up with Mac is pretty easy since he\u2019s very active on his Instagram account. You can even listen to his music on his YouTube account or on Spotify. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it all the way to Hollywood Week! We can\u2019t wait to see what the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":8456,"parent":15848,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16267","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFaces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"3Play Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3PlayMedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T14:43:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@3playmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/\",\"name\":\"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-08T14:20:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T14:43:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":810,\"caption\":\"Mac Potts\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learn\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Faces Behind the Screen\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/\",\"name\":\"3Play Media\",\"description\":\"Take Your Video Content Global\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"3Play Media\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/favicon_1x-300x300-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/favicon_1x-300x300-1.webp\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"3Play Media\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3PlayMedia\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/3playmedia\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/3play-media\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts","description":"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts","og_description":"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/","og_site_name":"3Play Media","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3PlayMedia\/","article_modified_time":"2025-10-03T14:43:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@3playmedia","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/","url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/","name":"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-08T14:20:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-03T14:43:56+00:00","description":"Mac Potts is a musician and piano technician in Vancouver, WA. His most recent adventure? Mac tried out for this season of American Idol, and he made it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/Mac-Potts-1.jpg","width":1080,"height":810,"caption":"Mac Potts"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/mac-potts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learn","item":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Faces Behind the Screen","item":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/faces-behind-the-screen\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Faces Behind the Screen: Mac Potts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/","name":"3Play Media","description":"Take Your Video Content Global","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#organization","name":"3Play Media","url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/favicon_1x-300x300-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/favicon_1x-300x300-1.webp","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"3Play Media"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3PlayMedia\/","https:\/\/x.com\/3playmedia","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/3play-media"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16267\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}