As Jimmy Buffett‘s Coral Reefer Band prepares for its first nationwide tour since his loss of life on Sept. 1, 2023, on the age of 76, its mission to take care of the spirit of Margaritaville is obvious.
“The prime directive, actually, is to honor the legacy that Jimmy did such a effective job of constructing,” singer-songwriter Mac McAnally, a Coral Reefer since 1994 — and who carried out as a part of Buffett’s Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame honor last October — tells Billboard. “There’s clearly no changing him. We’re gonna depart his mic open within the middle of the stage and his guitar on a stand. He particularly wished the music to dwell on and we would like the music to dwell on. I believe it’s an awesome profit to humanity for his music to dwell on.”
McAnally and the opposite Coral Reefers — a 13-member troupe that features Buffett collaborators Will Kimbrough, Scotty Emerick and Nadirah Shakoor sharing lead vocals with McAnally — have carried out sporadically since his passing on the age of 76, together with at Maintain the Get together Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett on the Hollywood Bowl in April 2024 and on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Competition the next month. On Monday, Aug. 4, they’ll hit the highway with the Doobie Brothers, with dates by way of Sept. 18 in Toronto. “It’s only a actually cool pairing to play with the Doobies,” McAnally explains, “as a result of at varied instances Jimmy has opened for them, and I believe they, at one level, opened for him alongside the way in which, too. They’re one of many nice American rock n’ roll bands, and we’re very honored to attempt to set the stage for them.”
Notably lacking from the Coral Reefer lineup is keyboardist and chief collaborator Michael Utley, who together with McAnally produced Buffett’s posthumous 2023 album Equal Pressure on All Components. “He was able to go dwelling and do the golden years along with his pretty spouse already, however we simply left it so he can come any time he desires to — however he’s not gonna be touring full-time anymore,” McAnally says. Utley’s son Mick has taken his place, and the senior Utley is totally supportive of retaining the Coral Reefer Band alive.
“I believe it’s nice they’re nonetheless doing that. I wished that to occur,” Michael Utley says. “The followers need it. They miss Jimmy, like all of us do, however they want that music and the escapism.”
McAnally, who additionally performs Buffett songs throughout his personal exhibits — and just lately launched a brand new model of “Oysters and Pearls” that he and Buffett wrote collectively for 1999’s Seaside Home on the Moon album — says the Coral Reefer exhibits have been “a household reunion” for Buffett’s ardent Parrothead fan base.
“Jimmy constructed a fanbase that wasn’t based mostly on hit data or promoting something particularly — though he was good at promoting every kind of issues. Nevertheless it was actually based mostly on a man you knew was coming to city and was going to have not less than nearly as good a time as you. He was the happiest man within the constructing most instances we ever performed, and that made individuals wish to come and be linked to that. It is sort of a household reunion for his followers and the band to go sing these songs that introduced a lot pleasure, and have a lot pleasure left in them to maneuver ahead.”
McAnally provides there could be extra of the music to listen to sooner or later, from Buffett’s vaults — together with what he says is “a beautiful model” of Joni Mitchell’s “Amelia.”
“There’s just a few (songs) round,” he says, “not as many as, like, the large backlog they speak about with Prince. There’s nothing like that. However there’s sufficient recorded and unreleased materials to make an album. Most of that report stuff I’ve, and I’ve acquired to return and handle it. I wouldn’t wish to assemble a undertaking that was only a launch for its personal sake; a few of it (Buffett) by no means thought-about a remaining vocal, so I wouldn’t wish to put something out that I really feel like he wouldn’t be proud of. However there’s positively some great things that’s there, and sooner or later it’ll get put collectively.
“At this level we’re extra involved about retaining the celebration going, as he put so properly. So the tour comes first, then within the break from the tour I’m gonna open some exhausting drives and a few previous analog tape and see what we now have beneath the hood.”
Along with McAnally, Kimbrough, Emerick, Shakoor and Mick Utley, the present Coral Reefer Band consists of Eric Darken on percussion, Doyle Grisham on pedal metal, Robert Greenidge on metal drums, Tina Gullickson on backing vocals, Peter Mayer on lead guitar and backing vocals, Jim Mayer on bass and backing vocals, Roger Guth on drums and John Lovell on trumpet. The group’s tour dates with the Doobie Brothers embrace:
8.4.25 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
8.6.25 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
8.7.25 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Financial institution Arts Middle
8.9.25 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Dwell
8.10.25 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Seaside
8.12.25 – Virginia Seaside, VA – Veterans United Dwelling Loans Amphitheatre
8.13.25 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
8.15.25 – Boston, MA – Xfinity Middle
8.17.25 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion
8.18.25 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC
9.4.25 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood On line casino Amphitheater
9.5.25 – Ridgedale, MO – Thunder Ridge Nature Area
9.9.25 – Milwaukee, WI – American Household Insurance coverage Amphitheatre
9.10.25 – Tinley Park, IL – Credit score Union 1 Amphitheater
9.12.25 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Middle
9.13.25 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Middle
9.15.25 – Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheatre
9.17.25 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Middle
9.18.25 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage