This morning the Country Music Association (CMA) announced the first batch of nominations for the 44th Annual CMA Awards and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally is once again nominated for Musician of the Year.

Here’s who Mac will be going up against in the category:

• Paul Frankin — Steel Guitar
• Dann Huff — Guitar
• Brent Mason — Guitar
• Randy Scruggs — Guitar

Mac has won the award the last two years. Can he win a third straight? Tune in Wednesday, November 10th to find out.

Coral Reefer Band member and singer/songwriter Mac McAnally has won CMA Musician of the Year for the second straight year.

“I’m tickled to be nominated in the only category you don’t have to go on a diet to be a part of,” said McAnally.

He was also up for Musical Event of the Year for “Down The Road” with Kenny Chesney but the award went to Brad Paisley and Keith Urban for “Start A Band.”

Musician of the Year and Musical Event of the Year were announced before Wednesday night’s broadcast of the 43rd Annual CMA Awards on ABC.

Singer/Songwriter and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally garnered two Country Music Association Awards nominations on Wednesday morning: Musician of the Year and Musical Event of the Year.

Musical Event of the Year Nominees:

• Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire – “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
• Kenny Chesney (with Mac McAnally) – “Down The Road”
• Lee Ann Womack (duet with George Strait) – “Everything But Quits”
• Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis – “I Told You So”
• The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe – “Old Enough”

Musician of the Year Nominees:

• Eddie Bayers– Drums
• Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
• Dann Huff – Guitar
• Brent Mason – Guitar
• Mac McAnally – Guitar

McAnally won the award for Musician of the Year last year. It was his first CMA win.

The 2009 CMA Awards will air Wendesday, November 11th at 8/7c on ABC.

Another year has come and gone, and we look back at some of the highlights from 2008:

January

• Jimmy’s sister Lucy “Lulu” releases cookbook: “Crazy Sista Cooking”



• Jimmy plays a charity benefit show in Hong Kong
• In addition to Hong Kong show, Jimmy performs private show in Singapore and performs for troops aboard the USS Harry Truman (right)

February

• February 4th was the 7 year anniversary of Jimmy getting ejected from Miami Heat game
• The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis prepares for spacewalk by listening to Buffett’s “Oysters and Pearls”
• It’s reported that a Michigan company would begin making chips and salsa for Jimmy’s Margaritaville Foods
• In mid-February the annual trickle of tour dates begin to leak out, followed by the official tour announcements by the end of the month
• Harrison Ford reveals in an interview with Barbara Walters that he got his ear pierced after a lunchtime birthday celebration with Jimmy and the late Ed Bradley
• It’s announced that Buffett would build a new restaurant in Waikiki, Hawaii called “Jimmy Buffett’s At The Beachcomber”

March

• Panama City Margaritaville opens on March 5th
• On March 12th, Comedy Central’s “South Park” lampooned Jimmy Buffett (right)
• March 17th marked the 30 year anniversary of the release of “Son Of A Son Of A Sailor”

April

• Jimmy and Mac performed April 9th at the Glendale, AZ Margaritaville
• On April 13th, Jimmy and Jane Buffett pledged $50,000 at Comedy Central’s “Night Of Too Many Stars Autism Benefit”
• 2008 tour kicks off April 21st in Houston
• Buffett plays St. Louis for the first time in 8 years
• Other tour stops this month were Frisco, TX and Charlotte, NC

May

• Freddie & The Fishsticks play benefit show at New Orleans Margaritaville on May 1st



• Buffett plays New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 3rd
• Jimmy’s latest novel, “Swine Not?” is released May 13th
• Publicity rounds for new book include the Today Show, Regis & Kelly, and David Letterman
• It’s reported May 29th that the Trump Casino in Atlantic City will be turned into a Margaritaville Casino

June

• “Scenes You Know By Heart” DVD released exclusively through Walmart on June 3rd
• Second leg of tour resumes in Atlanta on June 5th
• Buffett also plays Raleigh, Detroit, New York City, and Philadelphia in the month of June

July

• Tour resumes in Cincinnati on July 17th
• Buffett also plays East Troy, Pittsburgh, Chicago twice, and Indianapolis in the month of July
• It’s reported that because of the credit crunch, work was slowing on the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi

August

• Jimmy performs at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island on August 3rd
• Tour resumes August 24th in Atlantic City
• Buffett also plays Wantagh, NY and the first of two shows in Bristow, VA in August

September

• Second show in Bristow, VA on September 1st
• Other tour stops in September include two shows in Mansfield, MA
• September 6th Mansfield show time moved up to 3 pm because of the approaching Hurricane Hanna
• Buffett performs two shows in Paris, marking the second year in a row he’s played Paris
• Mohegan Sun Margaritaville opens on September 29th
• BuffettWorld debuts the Buffett Caption Contest

October

• New monthly column debuts on BuffettWorld: “From Under My Lone Palm”, written by Justin
• Coral Reefer Nadirah Shakoor releases album on October 14th: “Nod To The Storyteller”
• West coast tour includes stops in San Diego, San Francisco, and two shows in Las Vegas
• On October 23rd, Jimmy visited Google Headquarters where he spoke and performed

November

• Jimmy’s dear friend and legendary Key West figure Captain Tony Tarracino died on November 1st



• Jimmy performs November 2nd at a Barack Obama rally in Tampa, Florida (right)
• On the 8th, Jimmy performed a private show at the Mohegan Sun Margaritaville Cafe
• Radio Margaritaville becomes available to XM subscribers as the result of the Sirius XM merger
• Coral Reefer Mac McAnally won CMA Musician of the Year at CMA Awards on November 12th
• Jimmy attends University of Florida football game on the 15th where he was invited into the locker room by coach Urban Meyer

December

• Jimmy Buffett turns 62 years old on Christmas Day

And that’s a quick review of 2008!

It was another great year at BuffettWorld and we’d like to thank all of you who visit BuffettWorld, subscribe to the daily email updates, and who are members of our forum.

Thank you and we look forward to providing you the best and most Jimmy Buffett news and information on the web again in 2009!

The Florence, AL Times Daily caught up with Mac McAnally following his CMA win on Wednesday night for Musician of the Year (pictured at right accepting the award. photo by John Russell/CMA) :

Mac McAnally still has a hard time believing that he’s the Country Music Association’s Musician of the Year.

A fixture in the Shoals music scene since the early 1970s, McAnally was gracious in victory, but first and foremost, complimentary of the other nominees, including Jerry Douglas, who McAnally called the best dobro player in the world, steel guitarist Paul Franklin and guitarists Brent Mason and Dann Huff.

“Those are all guys I get the honor of sitting and playing with,” McAnally said. “It meant a lot to be thought of in that context. It’s certainly an honor, not something I would ever expect.”

McAnally has been nominated for the award in 2007 and 2008, mostly, he said, for his work with George Strait and Jimmy Buffett.

“Buffett keeps me busy more than anything,” McAnally said. “We’re good song writing buddies.”

He said Buffett gives people the impression of an artist kicked back on the beach in flip flops, but he’s really thinking of things to do every day.

But the work is always fun, McAnally adds.

Read the rest of the article here.