The Chicago Sun Times has an interesting article/interview with Jimmy Buffett where he reminisces about the time he spent in Chicago with Steve Goodman and others:

“I had just gotten into Chicago and was told we were going to have dinner at Steve’s place,” Buffett said in a Tuesday phone conversation. “And we were going to shoot this album cover.” Buffett had met Goodman at the Earl of Old Town. In the early 1970s, Buffett was an opening act at Richard Harding’s Quiet Knight, adjacent to the L tracks on West Belmont Avenue.

Buffett had his first major market success in Chicago. He opened for Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Neil Sedaka and others at the Quiet Knight. “I was loyal to Richard,” Buffett said. “He played me there many times, and I stayed when I started getting a following. That’s how it was then.”

Buffett was the outsider who was born in Pascagoula, Miss.

“It is a Chicago style not necessarily identified with the city,” Buffett explained. “There were just so many good people doing solo acoustic guitar shows. The Holstein brothers, Bonnie Koloc, Mike Smith. And those singer-songwriters also had to be comedians and emcees. I had to do that in my early New Orleans days. Stephen Stills and [Eric] Clapton were the guitar players I idolized. My natural strength seemed to lie in the ability to bulls— on stage. I had that talk with myself. I thought, ‘It’ll take a lot of hard work and practice, so if I’m successful, I can hire a good guitar player.’ After New Orleans, when I got to Chicago I worked places that were minor league ballparks, the Steak & Ale circuit. So meeting all those people in Chicago was a renaissance for me.

“They were great storytellers, bulls— artists on stage and performers. I gravitated toward that. I found my place.”

Read the full article here.

(hat tip Jahfin)

In an interview with USA Today that focuses mainly on releasing old material, Jimmy Buffett says he’s going to work on the tailgating prohibition at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia. Spokespeople for Jiffy Lube Live and owner Live Nation have said that they are cracking down on tailgating at the venue that is known for great pre-partying.

When told there wasn’t going to be partying in the parking lot, the singer said, “Who’s stupid idea was that? … I’m glad to hear that. I’ll get right on that. I believe I can take care of that. It must be some city thing, but it’s not me.”

The venue, formerly known as Nissan Pavilion “is one of the biggest tailgating places ever,” he says. “We got time, I can really get into that. … I’m going to fire a little shot to the Live Nation people.”

The Jiffy Lube Live concert will be held August 27th.

Next Thursday Jimmy Buffett, along with Mac McAnally and Robert Greenidge, will play a benefit show in Pensacola for the National Naval Aviation Museum.

The Pensacola News Journal has an interview with McAnally on the show:

In a phone interview, McAnally said the sold-out fundraising concert is something that he and Buffett are both excited about.

“We were just bragging about that show last night in Raleigh,” McAnally said. “Jimmy’s been a longtime supporter of the military and the Wounded Warrior Project, and so have I, drafting off him in the NASCAR sense. Both of our fathers were connected to the military. (Jimmy) is a sailor and a military historian, so the Navy and the air, it’s an interest to him. I hesitate to speak for him, but I know there’s a passion there. There’s nothing not to like.”

McAnally said the show will consist of he and Buffett on guitar, accompanied by steel drummer Robert Greenidge.

“It’s a reincarnation of what we did two years ago in Tahiti,” McAnally said. “We enjoy playing that configuration, so we’re looking forward to it.”

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McAnally said his relationship with Buffett on- and off-stage is something that is still enjoyable and exciting, all these years on.

“We are truly old, good friends, and that’s never a bad thing,” McAnally said. “He’s been a supporter of what I do from the very beginning. He sent me a note after my first record came out (in 1977), and it said, ‘we’re both from Mississippi and both songwriters and we’re going to be friends.’ I was a fan before I met him, and I am now. I’m honored to get to stand beside him and play. I was and am sort of bashful. I was from the — as he says — ‘not fun’ part of Mississippi. He was from the fun part near the water, and is less bashful. I was always more inclined to stand to the side. Maybe I’m of more use to him there; I try to be, anyway.”

Read the full interview here.

The reigning three-time CMA musician of the year and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally gives a good interview to Nashville.com:

You still perform with Jimmy Buffett, but do you have your own band now?
I can’t imagine not playing with Jimmy as long as he has a use for me. I mainly perform my shows as a solo but I did put together a bit of an all-star band made up of some fellow Coral Reefers and some of my best studio buddies from Nashville and Muscle Shoals to record a live CD last fall. It will be called “Live from Muscle Shoals” and was recorded at the W.C. Handy Festival down in Alabama.

What are your favorite songs that you’ve written for other artists and why do you like these songs?
Well, once again, I’ve really been blessed in that area but I’ll single out a few. “All These Years” by Sawyer Brown; “Back Where I Come From” and “Down the Road” by Kenny Chesney; “It’s My Job” by Jimmy Buffett and the one that started it for me “Old Flame” by Alabama. These are favorites because in addition to being successful they represent the best I can do. Sometimes a writer’s best work is not what ends up representing them in the charts. These were satisfying, both ways.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about the music business?
To enjoy it. It’s music. It should be enjoyed. I think people can hear whether you’re having a good time or not. And that’s contagious. Having a good time is contagious and not having a good time is also contagious. I’ve learned it from one of the best, from Jimmy [Buffett]. The secret to him when he was playing frat parties and keg parties as a young man, he enjoyed the heck out of it. I don’t think he enjoyed it any less or more than now. He’s always enjoyed playing music. I think it’s important to do that. How many people in the world don’t have even an opportunity to something they like?

Read the full interview here.

Morning television host Kerri-Anne interviewed Jimmy Buffett while he was in Australia.

In the interview, they discuss the inspiration for the song Margaritaville (Austin, Texas gets the credit), the Jamaica Mistaica incident, Lionel Richie, parrotheads, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and a few other topics.

Watch the interview here.