Simon Sweetman, writer of the New Zealand Blog on the Tracks, has an excellent interview with Jimmy Buffett as he prepares to head Down Under for three shows in Australia and another in Auckland, NZ.

“I worked out long ago that I’m an average singer, I’m an average guitar player. I’m okay as a musician but nothing flash. But I can tell entertaining stories; I can pack in a lot of material and create a great atmosphere. That’s the party that people come for and that’s what I want to offer – a great amount of fun, a huge party. I’m an entertainer – and I’m very proud of the work I do. I think we do it well; I’ve got a great band.”

And he works hard too. I point out that his last year off – without a tour – was 1983. Buffett laughs hard and says, “yep, that was a lazy year, that one, but I’ve made up for it ever since. I must take another year off – sometime. But I’m lucky: most of what I do is not really work. I’ll make an album, play some shows. I’ll then spend half the year sailing and surfing.”

Read the full interview here.

ESPN’s E:60 has a report on Newton Marshall, the 27 year old who was the first Jamaican to participate in the Iditarod dogsled race. Jimmy Buffett is a sponsor of the team (and one of the dogs is named after him) and was interviewed for the story.

Watch below:

Mel Summers of WKRG News 5 caught up with Jimmy on Saturday at the beach in Gulf Shores:

WKRG.com News

In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, Jimmy Buffett talks about the frustration with the oil spill, regulation of the industry, and how he’s trying to help the gulf coast businesses and residents:

“If you’re born and raised on the Gulf Coast and it’s kind of in you, and you don’t feel anger and rage initially over what’s going on down there, I think you’re a hypocrite,” he said in a telephone interview from New York. “That’s the way I felt. Now, what you do with that is a big question.”

“People were going, `What are you going to do about things?’ I mean, hell, I can’t stick my finger in that hole. Everybody wishes they could,” said Buffett.

“But there’s a huge amount of frustration and probably it will boil over in summertime anger, and I know what I’ve done for years is entertain. What I’m best at is two hours of escapism for people that have to go back and either live jobs that they don’t like or whatever,” he said. “It’s that Mardi Gras mentality.”

“I have pretty much surrounded myself with Gulf Coast influences for a long time, and … if you listen to those songs, I think it’s pretty much in there,” said Buffett.

Buffett, a supporter of President Barack Obama, said the roots of the spill lie with the administration of former President George Bush, which was often criticized for being too cozy with the petroleum industry.

“To me it was more about eight years of bad policy before (Obama) got there that let this happen. It was Dracula running the blood bank in terms of oil and leases,” he said. “I think that has more to do with it than how the president reacted to it.”

The article also says that the Zac Brown Band had to pull out of the Gulf Coast show. Chesney announced last week that he won’t be able to make it.

The beach concert on Sunday will also feature Jesse Winchester and Allen Toussaint, who also were in the original lineup. Country singers Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown had to drop out because of prior commitments. Buffett said he is still making phone calls trying to add additional acts for Sunday, but he’s not sure of the final roster.

Read the full story here.

CNN has posted a third portion of the interview Jimmy Buffett did with Anderson Cooper last week:

Watch Part I and Part II.