Kenny Chesney has recruited a couple of his island friends for his upcoming album Songs for the Saints that will be released on July 27th. All proceeds from the album will go to Kenny’s foundation Love for Love City for hurricane relief in the Virgin Islands.

Kenny and Jimmy recorded a collaboration of “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season” for the album.

“Each one of them has a tie to my life in the islands, but also reflect some piece of what we’re trying to do,” he shared in a recent press release. “Ziggy Marley, and his family’s legacy, holds so much truth for all of the people I know down there. Mindy Smith’s ‘Come To Jesus’ was an album I lived with from morning to night when I was first going down there – and her voice sounds like an angel. And Jimmy, more than the lost shaker of salt, understands the poetry of the islands beyond what tourists see, the life in a way that made a song written decades ago so current. I’m honored they also want to help.”

Here’s the full track list:

1. Songs for the Saints
2. Every Heart
3. Get Along
4. Pirate Song
5. Love for Love City (with Ziggy Marley)
6. Ends Of The Earth
7. Gulf Moon
8. Island Rain
9. Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season (with Jimmy Buffett)
10. We’re All Here
11. Better Boat (featuring Mindy Smith)

Pre-order the album now at Amazon or iTunes.

Huey Lewis was set to play some shows this summer again with Jimmy Buffett, but in a note posted on his website he revealed that he will not make any tour appearances due to hearing loss:

Two and a half months ago, just before a show in Dallas, I lost most of my hearing. Although I can still hear a little, one on one, and on the phone, I can’t hear music well enough to sing. The lower frequencies distort violently making it impossible to find pitch. I’ve been to the House Ear Institute, the Stanford Ear Institute, and the Mayo Clinic, hoping to find an answer. The doctors believe I have Meniere’s disease and have agreed that I can’t perform until I improve. Therefore the only prudent thing to do is to cancel all future shows. Needless to say, I feel horrible about this, and wish to sincerely apologize to all the fans who’ve already bought tickets and were planning to come see us. I’m going to concentrate on getting better, and hope that one day soon I’ll be able to perform again. Sincerely, Huey

Best wishes to Huey on his recovery!

In an email to the Miami Herald, Jimmy Buffett shared a remembrance of his good friend Glenn Frey, who died Monday at the age of 67.

In August of 1975, I was sitting in a dressing room in the Columbia Coliseum in South Carolina, about ready to go onstage. It wasn’t your ordinary gig by any stretch of the imagination, and still gives me “chicken skin” as I write about [it] this morning. We were opening for the Eagles, the best American band of my generation and many to follow. Any band worth their salt started out as an opener for somebody. Opening for the right band at the right time, could be your stairway to heaven.

Earlier in the afternoon Tommy Nixon, one of their road managers, had invited us to watch the Eagles sound check. I sat there with all the members of the Coral Reefer Band in awe, and when it was over, we strolled back through the empty arena towards our dressing room, and I said to my band, “that is the kind of band we want to become.”

Waiting to go on that night seemed like an eternity. Mixed emotions were flowing, fear, excitement, and a lot of “what if’s” were running through my head, when the door suddenly opened and in walked Glenn Frey. That was the first time we met. He greeted me and the band warmly, thanked us for being there (duh?) and said to me how much he loved A Pirate Looks at 40. He wished us luck and then went back out the door. That was the beginning of a long and lovely friendship.

Only a few people really know how significant Glenn, Don, Irving and the Eagles were to my rise through the ranks of bands trying to achieve just a sliver of the success that they had achieved. After that first night, Glenn and I went on to become close friends, songwriting collaborators and neighbors in Aspen. He and Don were instrumental in getting Irving Azoff to become my manager, and eventually open for the Eagles on the Hotel California tour of America, which was the rocket ship we rode to eventually becoming a headliner.

When the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they asked me to give their induction speech. I was humbled. Glenn was a true friend, a true professional, an inspiration and sometimes could be a handful. I cherish great memories of our time spent together and will never forget his kindness that first night and our friendship for all these years. My heart goes out to Cindy, Deacon, Taylor and Otis. He rocked all our worlds.

Read more at The Miami Herald.

Jimmy Buffett was in New Orleans on Friday for the memorial service for his friend Allen Toussaint.

Jimmy and Allen at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2014

World-renowned stars and home folks who love New Orleans’ rich musical heritage crowded into a historic theater Friday to bid farewell in words and song to Allen Toussaint, a prolific songwriter, performer and producer who died last week at age 77.

Jimmy Buffett sang “Fortune Teller.” Davell Crawford accompanied himself on piano, singing a haunting version of “Southern Nights,” the New Orleans-born Toussaint’s reminiscence of childhood visits to relatives in rural south Louisiana. Other performers included John Boutte, Dr. John and New Orleans’ “Queen of Soul” Irma Thomas, who said farewell with a gospel tune. The Preservation Hall Brass Band joined Trombone Shorty to close out the performances with a rousing “I’ll Fly Away.”

The tribute was at the Orpheum, recently renovated and reopened a decade after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The performances were carried live on the city’s community radio station WWOZ. Toussaint’s body lay in repose in a closed casket in the theater.

Toussaint died from a heart attack on Nov. 10 while on tour in Spain. A private burial is planned Saturday.

Jimmy Buffett’s last studio album, Songs From St. Somewhere (2013), included the Toby Keith duet “Too Drunk to Karaoke”. Around the same time that the pair recorded that song, they also recorded “Sailboat For Sale” for a later Keith album, and the time has now come.

Toby Keith will release his next studio album entitled 35 MPH Town on October 9th, and “Sailboat For Sale” with Buffett is listed as the 8th track on the record.

Don’t forget to get tickets to one of Buffett’s fall shows!

(hat tip HavanaMatt)