The Honolulu Star Bulletin has an article on the Honolulu Surfing Museum, which was bankrolled by Buffett and is located adjacent to Jimmy Buffett’s At The Beachcomber restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The term “museum” is stretched pretty thin these days – a traditional museum is a hallowed, hushed sanctuary of artifacts, a library of reality, where you go to learn, to experience the real thing firsthand.

The Honolulu Surfing Museum, on the other hand, “isn’t so much about scholarship,” explains curator Mark Fragale. “We’re about fun!”

Being “about fun” pretty much sums up Jimmy Buffett’s entire business philosophy, and the parrothead entertainer bankrolled the site as an adjacent attraction to his Jimmy Buffett’s Restaurant at the Beachcomber Hotel in Waikiki.

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“Everything in here is from the personal collection of Mr. Buffett’s,” explained Fragale, a well-known surfing collector himself. “It began when he acquired the original surfboard used by Robert Duvall in ‘Apocalypse Now,’ and the owner had connections to the Santa Barbara Surfing Museum in California. Buffett also picked up the original balsa surfboard broken up in ‘Ride the Wild Surf’ and many other things from Santa Barbara. Jimmy Buffett has an incredible affinity for surfing and Hawaii culture, and he bought everything needed for the museum is one swell foop.”

Read the full article here and check out the official site for the Honolulu Surfing Museum at www.honolulusurfmuseum.com.

There is a video up on YouTube of a new song that Jimmy Buffett performed live in Hawaii. It’s called “Feel Like Surfing In A Hurricane.” Watch it below:

Radio Margaritaville will air Jimmy Buffett’s recent Maui concert this Friday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 pm Pacific.

The February 24th show at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center was the first big show of 2009 for Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers.

You can listen to Radio Margaritaville on the web for free at www.radiomargaritaville.com, or if you’re a Sirius XM subscriber tune your satellite radio to Sirius 31 or XM 55.

The show will also air on Sunday night at 11:00 pm Eastern / 8:00 pm Pacific.

The Honolulu Advertiser has an article on the private show that Jimmy Buffett played last night at his new Waikiki restaurant: Jimmy Buffett’s At The Beachcomber:

Jimmy Buffett christened his new Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber restaurant in Waikiki in style last night, putting on a nonstop two-hour concert for invited guests and VIPs.

“I refuse to participate in this recession,” Buffett told a cheering crowd, many of whom wore balloon animals in the shape of shark fins and parrotheads.

Dressed in his trademark yellow T-shirt, red board shorts and standing in bare feet, Buffett brought out old standards like “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Margaritaville,” played “Dukes on Sunday” with local favorite Henry Kapono and jammed all night alongside ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and most of his Coral Reefer band.

He also premiered some new songs, basically putting on a full concert preview for fans who also came to town for Buffett’s concert tomorrow night at the Waikiki Shell.

Read the entire article here.

Also, check out the set list from the show here.

The Honolulu Star Bulletin has an interview with Jimmy Buffett where he talks about his new song “A Lot To Drink About”, his forthcoming live acoustic album, the new Hawaii restaurant, and touring with Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuru:

The easy-going and loquacious 62-year-old was eager to talk about both his new song and Hawaii business venture.

“The new song was easy to write — I mean, just look around!” he said with a laugh. “All you have to do is open the newspaper. And it’s a work-in-progress. After Michael Phelps was kicked off the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes box, I’m thinking of adding another verse about that in the song. All he did was smoke a little reefer!

“I’ve been a nomad with one foot in the Pacific, and now that I’ve put a place in Hawaii, it’s given me a great excuse to play there.”

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As for recordings, Buffett is planning to release a live acoustic album later this year comprising encores recorded during his most recent tour.

“I know my fan base, Parrotheads who want to add to their collection. Thanks to them I’ve been surviving this long. The idea was, during every show last year, I looked through my catalog and went through the process of picking songs that would sound kind of unique in an acoustic setting. They were the kind of songs that would fit in an encore, where there is a mellowness about them. The audience has already been through a show with a high energy level, so it would be good to let them down gently.”

Out of the 28 songs recorded, Buffett feels he’s put together an interesting selection of originals and covers, “particularly ballads, where I use that little bit of opportunity to do songs that I really like.”

Read the entire article here.