The latest album from Little Feat entitled “Join The Band” hits stores today. The album contains several guests, including Buffett lending his vocals on “Champion of the World” and “Time Loves A Hero”. Other guests on the album include Dave Matthews, Bob Seger, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Brooks and Dunn, and Emmylou Harris.

Get your copy of Join The Band now!

Jimmy Buffett’s latest Margaritaville cafe is scheduled to open next month at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Business Wire reports:

The saying, “The third time’s the charm,” couldn’t ring more true when it comes to Mohegan Sun’s third major expansion, Project Horizon. On August 29th, one of the largest gaming facilities in the world will get a little bigger as it opens the first portion of its $925 million expansion, the 64,000 square-foot Casino of the Wind, which will offer a 42-table poker room, more than 650 slot machines, 28 table games, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, and Chief’s Deli - a quick-service restaurant.

“We are very excited to reveal Casino of the Wind to the world,” said Mitchell Etess, President and CEO of Mohegan Sun. “The Rockwell Group, who have been our architects since the beginning in 1996, have outdone themselves. This may be their best work yet.”

The new facility, which broke ground in June 2007, makes its much-anticipated debut on Friday, August 29th at 10:00am immediately following a Tribal blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony. Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is slated to open in September 29th.

Read the entire article here, and learn more about Buffett’s business empire here.

Washington DC radio station Big 100.3 is giving away six tickets to the September 1st Buffett show at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia.

This weekend we’re giving you a chance to win a Miller Six Pack of tickets to see Jimmy Buffett LIVE in concert at Nissan Pavilion on September, 1st!

One grand prize winner will also receive gear from Miller Lite, the Ultimate Light Beer.

It’s the ultimate party!

Check that… It’s the ultimate party for you and FIVE of your friends!

Check that… It’s the ultimate party for you, five of your friends, and thousands of other parrot heads!

Enter at your leisure anytime this weekend and then stick around for all of the Buffett songs we’ll be featuring all weekend long.

The party starts at 5:00 on Friday with Struber. Fins up!

Click here to register to win for free!

(hat tip to hpchuckyc for passing this along!)

Lucy Buffett, sister of Jimmy Buffett and owner of Lulu’s at Homeport, will be on Better TV on Wednesday to promote her new cookbook “Crazy Sista Cooking.”

This Wednesday, Lucy Buffett shows a nation-wide web audience and viewers in 12 major television markets how a Crazy Sista spices things up in the kitchen. She will appear on Better TV and www.better.tv Wednesday, August 13th.

Be sure to check your local TV listings for the air time so you can watch Lucy prepare some of her favorite dishes from her new cookbook, Crazy Sista Cooking.

Better is aired on Meredith-owned stations CBS 46 in Atlanta, Georgia; KCTV in Kansas City, MO; FOX 5 in Las Vegas, NV; PDX 49 and FOX 12 in Portland, OR; FOX in Greenville, SC & Asheville NC; News 3 in Hartford, CT; 4 News in Nashville, TN; KSMO in Kansas City, MO; CBS 5 in Flint-Saginaw, MI; CBS 3 in Springfield-Holyoke MA; and CBS 5 in Phoenix, AZ.

If you don’t live in one of these 12 television markets, you can still watch Lucy by logging on to www.better.tv. Look for her Crazy Sista Cooking Segment on the right side of the homepage.

And if you are interested in learning more about Crazy Sista Cooking, or purchasing your very own cookbook, please visit www.lulubuffett.com.

On July 23rd, The Sun Herald reported that work was slowing down on the Margaritaville Casino project in Biloxi, Mississippi. Now, Harrah’s says that the scope and size of the project is shrinking considerably:

The original $700 million estimated cost of the casino resort on the beach in Biloxi is being revised “down, down,” Harrah’s officials said during a conference call Friday.

About $110 million has been invested in Margaritaville as of June 30, and the company anticipates another $40 million to $45 million will be spent through the remainder of the year.

Harrah’s President Gary Loveman said they slowed construction of Margaritaville casino for a couple of reasons. “First, because business conditions in that market are very trying and new capacity is not exactly what that market needs in the short term.”

Loveland said Harrah’s also intends to refine the scope and the cost estimates for Margaritaville Casino “as carefully as possible to make sure that we build exactly what it is we think is prudent in that market. So we have slowed down the pace to regather ourselves” he said, to ensure Margaritaville “is appropriately sized and configured for the marketplace.”

Read the entire article here

The Teacher Gloria Omololu Institute (TGOI) located on the beautiful Caribbean island of Anguilla, BWI invites you to bid on this genuine Jimmy Buffett and Bankie Banx signed Fender guitar package which includes the guitar, a hard cover case, a certificate of authenticity as well as the “Live in Anguilla” DVD that was filmed the weekend of the signing of this stunning guitar.



This collectors item is being auctioned for charity and is a left handed acoustic Fender with a rosewood neck and blonde Birchwood top and was donated to TGOI by Anguilla’s own international reggae artist - Banxie Banx, an internationally renown reggea artist and owner of the Dune Preserve, the home of the annual Moonsplash reggae festival. Bankie, who is the father of three TGOI students, is a long time friend of Jimmy Buffett, having performed with him in many concerts, including the Moonsplash 2007 “Stuck in Paradise” charity event. Jimmy Buffett magnanimously donated the proceeds of that concert, which totaled$120′000, to Anguillian charities.

The guitar was signed by Jimmy Buffett and Bankie during the the “Stuck in Paradise” concert and is made available as part of the 1st Annual Anguilla Invitational Golf Classic event, which aims to raise funds to support the nonprofit Teacher Gloria Omololu Institute, which fosters the holistic development of its students on moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, and psychosocial levels, for over a decade. The institute which is accessible to all students through its scholarship and financial assistance programmes, presently caters to preschool and primary aged children. It is now constructing its own campus, using traditional Anguillian architecture, to create a nurturing learning village.

For more information on the Golf Tournament and the guitar, visit www.omololugolfclassic.com and for more information about the Teacher Gloria Omololu Institute, please visit www.omololu-institute.com.

Click here to bid now!

Jimmy Buffett and a stripped-down version of the Coral Reefer Band performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon. The Providence Journal reviews the show:

Jimmy Buffett’s concert to close the Newport Folk Festival was perfectly good as far as Buffett concerts go (though by the necessity of the festival context it was shorter than average), but it was far from the acoustic performance that had been billed.

True, there’s always been more than a bit of the singer-songwriter in Buffett’s oeuvre, anyway. And last night’s show included such examples as “A Pirate Looks at 40” and a mostly acoustic “Come Monday,” and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (who had played earlier on the main stage) joined him for Welch’s traditional-based “Elvis Blues.” He also pulled out a skillful, straightforward acoustic encore of Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind.”

While Buffett reminded the Boston Globe this spring that he came up as a folk singer, said he might bring only one other musician and that “it won’t be a Parrothead show,” it did a pretty good approximation of one, with favorites such as “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins” — you know the drill.

Festival associate producer Jay Sweet said that there had been a miscommunication of some kind with Buffett’s management — “it was a surprise that he brought the heat” — but maintained that “he put together a set list and a band that was appropriate for the Newport Folk Festival. … Was it a folk show? No. Was it a stripped-down version of a Jimmy Buffett show? Yes.” The band was somewhat smaller — Buffett left the horn section at home — but the electric guitars and drums still pounded away. And the audience (announced at 7,500) didn’t seem to mind.

Read the entire article here.

Did you attend the show? Post your comments on our Discussion Board!

The 2008 Year Of Still Here Tour continued Tuesday night as Jimmy moved the tour into Indianapolis for his annual visit.

Returning to Deer Creek for his 25th show, Jimmy brought out a change early with “I Will Play for Gumbo” returning to the set list for the first time since September 20, 2007 in New York City. No other changes occurred but “Volcano” was again in the first set just like Bridgeview.

The second set didn’t include any surprises, but it did feature “Take Another Road” and “Last Mango in Paris,” a carry over from the Bridgeview show. This was just the second performance of “Last Mango” since 2006.

The First Encore opened the same way with “Fins.” The second song was different again as this time honoring a sign request Jimmy played “Glory Days.” The second encore brought out yet another A1A tune, this time it was “Nautical Wheelers,” last played September 19, 2006 in Austin, TX at a Kinky Friedman benefit show.

View the entire set list here.

Did you attend the show? Share your thoughts on our Discussion Board or post your photos in our Photo Gallery.

Update - The Indy Star has a review of the show: “Parrothead Party Meets Expectations”

The Noblesville Daily Times also has a review, including a couple of photos: “Beachballs, Beverages, and Buffett”

The third leg of the 2008 “Year of Still Here” has now concluded. Jimmy’s next show will be at the Newport Folk Festival this Sunday. This show will not be broadcast on Radio Margaritaville. The next leg of the tour will begin August 24 in Atlantic City. There’s still plenty of time to Get your tickets!

The schedule has been announced for the upcoming Newport Folk Festival. Jimmy Buffett will perform on Sunday, August 3rd from 5:40-7:15 pm.

See the entire schedule here.

You can order tickets now online by clicking here, or by calling 1-877-655-4849. Be sure to purchase tickets for Sunday, August 3rd to see Jimmy.

(hat tip to Mike for passing this along)

Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy will appear on the Today Show on NBC this Monday (July 28th) to discuss her cookbook “Crazy Sista Cooking”. Lucy is the owner of Lulu’s at Homeport Marina, a restaurant in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

There will be a watch party at Lulu’s from 8-10 am on Monday that includes a complimentary continental breakfast. Get the details here.

Get “Crazy Sista Cooking” now at Amazon.com.

Update - The Press Register has more:

The sister of singer Jimmy Buffett said she will be on the air during the 9 a.m. hour, when she will be featured in a three-minute cooking segment.

On TV, she’ll prepare the tiny Wee Burgers that are favored by her youngest patrons and showcase a pre-prepared sampling of L.A. (that’s “Lower Alabama”) Caviar. The latter is a signature LuLu’s dish comprised of black-eyed peas, various peppers, onion and cherry tomatoes, among other tasty ingredients.

“It’s exciting” being on TV, Buffett said on a summer afternoon from the bar at LuLu’s. “Sometimes I get a little nervous, but then I think, ‘Oh, heck. I am just going to cook.’ Hopefully, it will sell books.”

“Crazy Sista Cooking,” which features more than 150 of Buffett’s favorite recipes mixed in with tales of life in Lower Alabama, is a self-published book. Recently, book distributor PGW signed on to give the full-color volume greater exposure.

“We’re getting ready to run another 40,000 books,” Buffett said. “Hopefully, they will do well. If not, they will just be around LuLu’s for a while.”

Many of the dishes featured in the book are served every day on the LuLu’s menu.

“Almost all of them are LuLu’s recipes,” Buffett said. “I figure it’s not like they are big secrets. If you want to go and make an oyster loaf, I am sure you can do as well as I do. I want to make sure people enjoy the food, but I’m not sure that’s the whole reason people love LuLu’s.”