Country artist and television personality Blake Shelton has a new show on USA Network called ‘Barmageddon’ where celebrities compete in pub style games, and Jimmy Buffett and Mac McAnally wrote the theme song for the show:

Those who tune into “Barmageddon” will hear a lot of music when Blake Shelton and some of his celebrity friends perform at his bar, Ole Red, in Nashville, Tennessee. However, one of the biggest toe-tappers will undoubtedly be the original opening song.

Shelton performs the catchy theme music to “Barmageddon.” While most of what the country singer belts out is great, this song in particular is special because it was written just for him by legendary hitmakers Jimmy Buffett of “Margaritaville” fame and Mac McAnally.

Those two have worked together on many projects in the past; in fact, McAnally has been a member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band for decades. While they’ve never fully collaborated with Shelton, all three have been in the music business for most of their adult lives and have crossed paths many times.

You can hear a little of the new song in the video below, starting around the 2:10 mark:

Jimmy Buffett and longtime Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally have both been inducted into the Mississippi Songwriters Hall of Fame:

Some of the best musicians were supposed to gather this week in Ocean Springs. But, like so many other things, the 2020 Mississippi Songwriter’s Festival was canceled due to COVID-19.

The cancellation didn’t stop the Hall of Fame ceremony though; it went on virtually on Thursday night.

Pascagoula Mayor Steve Demetropoulos, welcomed the city’s famous musician into the esteemed club, Jimmy Buffett.

“It’s been said that Mississippi is the birth place of America’s music, well Jimmy Buffett is America’s music.” said Demetropoulos.

Before performing on some of the world’s biggest stages, Jimmy Buffett called Pascagoula home. In a recorded message, Buffett reflected on how the Mississippi Coast shaped his iconic music career.

“It’s a long way from the Pascagoula run and my early days growing up in Mississippi certainly had an impact on the way I wrote songs and what I wrote about,” said Buffet. “So, thank you Mississippi for that.”

Read the full story here.

An article in Fortune details Jimmy Buffett’s latest venture: licensing the use of “Coral Reefer” to a medical marijuana company.

Jimmy Buffett has been playing with the Coral Reefer Band for well over four decades now, so it’s less than surprising to see the veteran singer-songwriter finally getting into the weed business.

The “Margaritaville” singer will license the “Coral Reefer” brand to Surterra, a big medical marijuana company whose board has since last month been chaired by William “Beau” Wrigley, Jr.—the former CEO of the Wrigley confectionery firm.

Georgia-based Surterra is currently licensed in Florida and Texas, and plans to build out cultivation space in the former state while conducting research trials on cannabinoid treatment for issues such as pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. The company has raised more than $100 million in the last few years, most recently in a $65 million round last month that was led by Wrigley’s Wychwood Asset Management.

Read more here.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal has an article on Mac McAnally that provides more information on how he’s doing:

The performer had the heart attack on Monday night in Nashville, according to his publicist, Elaine Schock with Shock Ink.

“He’s actually doing great,” she said during a phone interview from Los Angeles. “They released him from the hospital and he’s going to be back to work really soon.”

Schock said that last week, McAnally was enjoying the spotlight and the red carpet at the Country Music Association Awards, where he tied Chet Atkins with nine Musician of the Year trophies.

“It was so good to see him get the award,” Schock said, “and then this happens a few days later.”

McAnally, 60, is a singer, songwriter and session musician based in Nashville. He’s also a member of Jimmy Buffett’s band, The Coral Reefers.

No decisions have been made about future concerts, but Schock expressed confidence in McAnally’s ability to get back on stage soon.

“He’s doing really good,” she said, “and we’re all happy about that.”

In a post on Instagram, Jimmy Buffett revealed that Coral Reefer Mac McAnally had a heart attack but is doing well:

OK, by now, most folks have heard about Mac's heart attack, which was a little more serious than a Big Mac attack. He is fine now and stable and should leave the hospital tomorrow, which is great news for all of us. Sadly he will not make the hurricane benefit this Sunday in Tallahassee, but while I was working on the set of "The Beach Bum", in Miami on Tuesday, Snoop said he would try and work up "Little Martha". I will keeep you posted on his progress. No, I am not the beach bum in the movie. He is played by Matthew McConaughey. I am JB, Snoop's writing partner. Movie is directed by Harmony Korine. Coming soon to a theatre new you! Fins Up. JB #ginnjuice #dogg #snoop

A post shared by Jimmy Buffett (@jimmybuffett) on Nov 16, 2017 at 10:43am PST