Men’s Journal has an interview with Jimmy Buffett: “Survival Skills: Jimmy Buffett”

What secrets should a man keep to himself?
I think secrets should be held for a long time, and, if you live a long and interesting life, it’s worth it to let them all out at the end. I wrote a book at 50, and I didn’t tell all the good stuff. It’s like, there are secrets to writing songs. There are secret surf spots. You keep that box of magic tricks around, and when you’re done doing your magic, then you can talk about it—purely for the showbiz aspect of the tell-all book.

What’s the handiest survival skill you have?
I’m a pretty good field medic. From my Boy Scout days I can patch people up. I can do stitches, which comes in handy in remote surf breaks.

What skill would you like to master?
I had a fleeting desire to do kitesurfing— then I saw the injury reports and the YouTube videos and I wnet, “Nah. I’m content.” Stand up paddleboarding is the last new skill I learned. Laird Hamilton gave me a lesson. It took me about an hour, and then I had it pretty good.

What do you want to do before you die?
I have four things: Learn to hang ten. Go to space. Go to Pitcairn Island, where my Buffett ancestors are from. And go to Antarctica.

What’s the secret to staying young?
For me it’s being in the water every day, whether it’s surfing or swimming. I look at these guys in Hawaii and they’re 80 years old in the surf break and look great. And that’s all they do. I want to be in that club when I’m that old.

Read the full interview here.

Jimmy Buffett is performing in Boston today and Saturday and the Boston Globe caught up to him recently for a short interview:

Q. You haven’t been afraid to let loose lately about the state of the country. What’s up with that?

A. There’s a lot of stupidity going around on all sides. The country bought it all, and I thought people needed to be reminded about how stupid they were. And it’s an ongoing saga. I can certainly put more verses in “A Lot to Drink About’’ as we go along. For instance, I noticed that the schools are closing in Los Angeles, but the Lakers were just given a parade. There’s no end to the crazy things going on.

Q. Did you get swept up in the Madoff scandal yourself?

A. No, it all smelled like a rat in the beginning. I guess I’ve worked with so many crooked promoters that I can smell ’em. Money made on moving money around never interested me.

Q. How has the recession affected your tour? Is this the year the bubble bursts and some people will not come to see you?

A. No, we’re doing great. Thank God there are people out there who like what we’re doing. They haven’t put us on a list of things they’re not going to do because of the economy. This is their vacation and they’re not going to give it up. They may not go to Florida or buy a new car, but they won’t miss our show. I wanted to find out right away, so we went on sale early with a Detroit show – they’ve been as hard hit as anywhere – and it sold out in 20 minutes. I’m very grateful.

Read the entire interview here.

The Boston Herald also has an article out today comparing Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett: “Mango and cash: Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett live in two different worlds … or do they?”

CMT will air “Jimmy Buffett Uncut: 60 Minutes Special” tonight at 7 pm central time. It’s a full hour of interview footage in which the music man from Mobile answers questions from Steve Kroft of CBS News.

Also tonight, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band perform live from Sunrise, Florida. You can listen to the show live on Radio Margaritaville beginning at 7 pm central time. Also, chat with other parrotheads on the discussion board during the show.

The Miami Herald sat down with Jimmy Buffett for an insightful interview. They discuss License to Chill, the upcoming tour, Kenny Chesney’s new island CD, among other topics.

Read the interview here.