American Songwriter has an interesting interview with Coral Reefer and reining CMA Musician of the Year Mac McAnally:

You’re known as a great storyteller, both lyrically and in your live show. Was there any particular writer or performer coming up that inspired you to be the storyteller you’re known as today?

I’m sure that I was a sponge and was influenced by almost everything I heard musically. But the storytelling probably comes from two places. First the church. My mother was the piano player at church when I was young and we were always going to Baptist “association,” which was like a preaching competition with endless sermons over a two or three day period. I was very young and probably would have chosen to be elsewhere but I did take note of what did and did not work for the men, and a woman or two, in the pulpit. Secondly and probably a more direct influence were the old guys who sat on the “gossip bench” at the courthouse downtown and whittled and told stories. I was told not to hang around these guys and sat at their feet and listened to them for a big chunk of my early time. The new live CD is a response to years of being asked to record the stories that accompany the songs.

You’ve had cuts by Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett and many others. Do you have a song that was particularly hard to let go of?

When I wrote “Back Where I Come From” I thought that it was a hit, but also that it said something that I personally wanted to be the first to say. As a publisher I knew I was devaluing the copyright by singing it myself instead of passing it onto better and bigger singers, but I did it anyway. One of many of my classically bad business choices, but thankfully Kenny Chesney was kind enough to bail me out and cut it again. Thanks again KC.

Read the full interview here.

And be sure to pick up Mac’s new album Live in Muscle Shoals.

ESPN has a short interview with Jimmy Buffett where he talks sports, his bucket list, and the Superbowl halftime show:

I hear you love sports. What is your favorite team?

I’m a big sports fan, but favorite … the Saints! I grew up as a Saints fan. I was at the very first game the Saints played in New Orleans — nobody knew who I was back then. It was probably before you were born!

Shane Battier announced he was going to Miami via Twitter and said, “This was a exciting process and after much deliberation, I would like to quote the great poet Jimmy Buffett and take my chances ‘Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season.’ How do you feel about “assisting” with his big announcement?

“I like it a lot. I was a big fan of his during the Duke days. Being a big Heat fan, I think it’s great. I think he has a lot of dimensions. He’s going to be a huge asset. I’m happy with it.”

In 2001 you were ejected from a Heat vs. Knicks game for cursing at referee Joe Forte. Looking back, what are your thoughts, and would you do anything differently?

“No, I wouldn’t do anything different. I remember it humorously now. Alonzo (Mourning) was telling me to stay there. He (referee, Joe Forte) didn’t have any idea who I was. Some people thought it was a publicity stunt. … It completely wasn’t. My son was young, and I told him I was going to have to leave the game because I said a bad word. He said, ‘Do I have to leave?’ ”

What’s on your sports bucket list?

“Saints to win the Super Bowl next year in New Orleans, and I’ll be there.”

Will you be playing halftime? I’m going to vote for that!

“No. I wouldn’t do the halftime show unless it was live. I don’t lip sync.”

The US Embassy in France posted a video interview with Jimmy Buffett before his show at L’Olympia in Paris on Monday:

Buffett also visited the US Embassy last year where he joined the US Air Forces in Europe Band for a private show.

Before Jimmy Buffett took the stage on Thursday night at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, he spoke briefly with USA Today:

He told USA TODAY that only “300” fans had complained about the no tailgating policy, out of 25,000 tickets originally sold for the show.

While he knows it ticked a lot of fans off, he says, “I can’t argue with the reasoning behind it,” a reference to the fact that four post-concert drunk driving deaths in the last two years prompted the no tailgating policy.

However, inside the Jiffy Lube concert venue, which is owned and operated by Live Nation, fans could buy $14 margaritas, $10 glasses of wine and $10-$13 cups of beers right up through Buffett’s third encore song, just before they would get in their cars to drive home.

As for why the show seemed emptier than usual, Buffett said “10,000 people asked for refunds.” That, however, he attributed to Hurricane Irene, which pushed Saturday’s concert to Thursday, noting that a lot of his fans make the show “a destination.”

Jimmy Buffett was recently on the Bob Edwards Show, where he gave a lengthy interview:

Jimmy Buffett is like a pied piper, but with a guitar, leading his Coral Reefer Band and his legion of fans known as Parrot Heads. Bob visits with Buffett in the state of mind called Margaritaville to talk about the song, his many commercial enterprises, the satellite radio channel and about Buffett’s connection to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Listen to the show here or download at iTunes.

(hat tip Jahfin)