Billboard has an interview with Jimmy Buffett that discusses the new album “Buffet Hotel”, next year’s tour, and two new books that he’s working on.
“Buffet Hotel”
Jimmy Buffett says he felt a greater level of engagement on his new album, “Buffet Hotel,” than he has on many of his other recent efforts.
“With a band this good and with people this good around you, you kind of get in a routine,” Buffett tells Billboard.com, acknowledging that previous “listening and fixing” was done primarily by Coral Reefer Band collaborators Mike Utley and Mac McAnally. But on “Buffet Hotel,” Buffett says that “we got back to doing things like we did in the old days. Instead of doing it in the afternoon, I said, ‘Let’s go back like we did in the old days and do those red wine and reefer vocals…at midnight.’ I’d get a little buzz on red wine and get my singing chops, get in that mood, and then I’d send ‘em over the Internet to Utley and Mac and say, ‘Alright, I know they were midnight. You got red wine vocals there. You can throw ‘em away or tell me what you think,’ and they’d go, ‘Do more of those!’ ”
Buffett and company previewed several of the songs during his 2009 concerts, notably “Summerzcool” and “Surfing in a Hurricane,” the first surf rock song he’s ever written.
“Mac told me on the last night of the tour we’d done seven of the new songs off the album over the summer, and I’d never done that before,” Buffett recalls. “Usually you’re lucky to get one or two songs from a new album into the show, so it was a complete reversal.”
2010 Tour
Buffett is planning a full-scale “Buffet Hotel” tour for 2010 and intends to start the year in Australia and the Pacific Rim. He’s toying with the idea of playing entire albums next year and hopes to play 1983′s “One Particular Harbor” in Tahiti. He’s also putting into motion into a special performance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with “Buffet Hotel” guests Sonny Landreth and Toumani Diabate.
Film and Books
And while he says that he’s “out of the movie business” at the moment, Buffett is working on a documentary about his trip to Mali with director Margaret Brown.
Buffett also has two books in the works, a collection of short stories set in the Pacific and “a rock ‘n’ roll novel” called “Mudbath” that is “based on a real-life adventure, but hopefully you won’t recognize any of the characters.”
New York Magazine has an article that goes into detail on how Jimmy Buffett discovered Ilo Ferreira.
On November 23, Freston and his friend Jimmy Buffett, 62, were there to support Ilo at his sold-out show at Joe’s Pub and his appearance later that night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, which they’d helped engineer.
“Hopefully, lightning strikes and he gets a musical career,” says Freston. “We’re just trying to give him some exposure.”
How’d they get to know, and fund, him? “It was an amazing set of circumstances,” Buffett says backstage at Joe’s. “Freston gets fired and he doesn’t have his plane and he’s got me all fired up to go to the Festival in the Desert,” in Africa. So they have to take Buffett’s jet. The route to Mali “is from San Juan to Cape Verde,” where they stopped to refuel. Buffett thought, why not check out the local music scene while they were stopping through. “I went, ‘Let’s see if Cesaria Evora is playing; I’ve always been a fan.’”
Also with them was MTV Networks editorial director Bill Flanagan, 54. That night, the Cape Verde culture ministry hosted for Buffett and his traveling companions to showcase performances by the best local musicians, including Ilo. After seeing him play, they all “just looked at each other and said, ‘Man.’ I mean, you see a lot of people, but very few people you think have it,” says Buffett.
The 2009 Summerzcool Tour came to an end Tuesday night as Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Buffett played a special encore with Last Man Standing and a solo version of Defying Gravity to close out the show.
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If history holds true, expect Buffett’s 2010 tour dates to be announced sometime in January or February. But we won’t be in total Buffett blackout… his new album Buffet Hotel hits stores December 8th.
The show was back on the road tonight as Jimmy and the band continued the Summerzcool Tour with a show in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The set list was the same as recent shows except for a few songs. “Boat Drinks” made it’s first appearance since October 25, 2008 in Las Vegas by replacing “Mañana” 5 songs in. “Nautical Wheelers” also closed the show.
First announced in 2007, the Margaritaville Casino project in Biloxi has been on hold for over a year and now Harrah’s Entertainment is saying they may need partners to complete the construction:
Harrah’s Entertainment may need financial partners if it wants to build the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi with the size and scope originally intended, says a company official.
R. Scott Barber, Harrah’s mid-South regional president, tells The Sun Herald that while Harrah’s is exploring a number of opportunities, there was nothing new to report.
Barber was in Biloxi for Friday’s meeting of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Original plans called for a $700 million resort with 798 rooms, a full-service spa, a pool/deck area with cabanas, bar and tropical landscaping, all on 46 acres of land south of U. S. Highway 90.
The show moved North tonight as Jimmy and the band continued the Winter Session of the Summerzcool Tour with a show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The set list featured a few surprises tonight. The first surprise was the debut of the new song that Jimmy co-wrote with Will Kimbrough entitled “Wings.” Immediately following that Jimmy played “Jamaica Mistaica” for the first time since September 20, 2008 in Paris, France.
According to Country Music Tattle Tale, Jimmy Buffett will team up with the Zac Brown Band for an episode of CMT Crossroads, a series that pairs country artists with musicians from other genres. Past episodes have featured Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams, Brad Paisley and John Mayer, Martina McBride and Pat Benatar, and Taylor Swift and Def Leopard.
The taping will reportedly be invitation-only in Nashville next month, with the episode airing in March.
The Zac Brown Band is one of the hottest new acts in country music, winning the 2009 ACM Award for Top New Vocal Duo or Group. They’ve had two number one singles: “Chicken Fried” and “Toes”.
New York Magazine has an 
The 2009 Summerzcool Tour came to an end Tuesday night as Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
First announced in 2007, the Margaritaville Casino project in Biloxi has been on hold for over a year and 
According to 
Jimmy Buffett will appear on NBC’s Today Show this Monday (Nov. 23rd) to promote his new album 
