Veteran Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally has been nominated by the Country Music Association for Musician of the Year. Here are the other nominees in the category:

• Jerry Douglas (guitar)
• Paul Franklin (steel guitar)
• Dann Huff (guitar)
• Brent Mason (guitar)

McAnally was also nominated in 2007 for Musician of the Year, but did not win.

Be sure to watch the CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 12th on ABC!

Good luck to Mac!

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers wrapped up the East Coast swing with the second of two shows from the Comcast Center at Great Woods in Mansfield, Massachusetts on Saturday afternoon. The show was moved up to 3 pm from 8 pm because of Hurricane Hanna. There were still frequent showers during the show, and Buffett played straight through without an intermission and only one break before the lone encore.

You can view the set list here.

Did you attend the show? Post your comments on our discussion board.

Jimmy’s next show will be from across the pond, at the New Morning Club in Paris, France. Buffett and the Reefers will perform there September 19th and 20th. Then, it’s off to the West Coast in October for two shows in Vegas and two shows in California.

View the entire tour schedule here. Get your tickets for the remaining shows here!

Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald has an article on Jimmy Buffett’s business empire: “Frozen assets: Margaritaville magnate Jimmy Buffett turns boozy tunes into retail gold”

rom the Bradford Exchange shilling Elvis plates to Ben & Jerry’s dreaming up Cherry Garcia and Phish Food, hucksters have long cashed in on the devotion of rock fans. But Jimmy Buffett devotees possess a unique appetite for, well, anything Margaritaville.

No one knows this as well as Buffett. This guy has a talent for turning his tunes into tacky knickknacks, mass-marketed munchies and a financial empire. With his annual tour bringing him to the Comcast Center in Mansfield Thursday (scattered tickets remain) and Saturday (sold out), Buffett continues to generate megabucks.

But it wasn’t until we dug into “Margaritaville” that we realized how deep his genius runs. Buffett’s signature song has spun off more products than it has lyrics. Just 206 words long, there’s not an unexploited verse. And yet, there are so many untapped lines.

Read the entire article here.

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played the first of two shows from the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA on Thursday night. The Boston Globe has a review of the show:

The gates of the Comcast Center opened at 7 last night, but the parking lot was open for tailgating at 11 in the morning. Who else could be in town but Jimmy Buffett? Faced with the choice of the Republican convention or the mayor of Margaritaville’s annual visit, the sold-out crowd picked the latter. Both were headlined by bald mavericks with the ocean in their veins; it didn’t even take much squinting for Buffett to look like the other guy, the T-shirt, shorts, and bare feet notwithstanding.

Read the entire article here.

Remember, Saturday’s show time has been moved up to 3 pm because of Hurricane Hanna.

From Margaritaville.com:

September 6th Start Time Changed to 3pm for Tweeter Center show in Mansfield, MA

Trying to reason with hurricane season…. Due to the weather expected from Hurricane Hanna that is approaching New England, Saturday’s show will start at 3:00pm instead of 8:00pm.

One of our Forum members, CapnSam, reports that they called the venue office and they said that parking lots will open at 8 am.