When Zac Brown Band played the Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 5, 2023, Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” was added to the set. Covering Buffett wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for the band, who had ties to the later singer and songwriter since their earlier day. That night Zac Brown Band’s rendition of “Margaritaville” was recorded and featured on the band’s 2023 release From the Road: Vol. 1, their first live covers album, in tribute to Buffett who died a little more than a month earlier at the age of 76 after a lengthy battle with skin cancer.
“Margaritaville” resurfaced again when Zac Brown Band joined Alan Jackson at the 2023 CMA Awards on November 8, for another tribute to Buffett with their performance of his 1977 hit. Before segueing into “Margaritaville,” the band shared a sampling of a new song Brown had written in tribute to Buffett, “Pirates and Parrots.”
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Brown says he first started writing the song when he learned that Buffett didn’t have much time left. “It hit me like a truck when I talked to his family,” Brown tells American Songwriter. “Heikki [Heikki Larsen, Buffett’s production manager], one of his main guys told me when I called the house, he said ‘He’s about to exit the stage.’ I had to get up. I left my bedroom, I went out, and I had to start writing.”
Following Buffett’s death, Brown says he couldn’t help but think about the Coral Reefer Band, the crew, and everyone who was part of his team. “I started writing because I feel the loss not just as a friend, but I felt the loss for his crew, for his team, for his band,” adds Brown. “There’s a whole world that revolves around him being there. With him being gone, there’s a void that was left with so many people, but he’s gonna live on through his songs. And what an incredible life.”
Remembering his friend, mentor, and collaborator, he’s still in awe of Buffett’s works beyond songwriting, and the many books he wrote, including A Pirate Looks at Fifty (1999), Tales from Margaritaville (2002), and A Salty Piece of Land (2004), among others.
“He’s the closest thing we have to a Mark Twain in this time,” says Brown. “He had such an incredible gift for writing not just the songs, but his books as well. He was a super special guy and he was always at everyone’s service. He built that culture. You can’t buy culture, momentum, or chemistry. You have to earn and build those things, and the culture that he built was incredible.”
Brown said he intends to keep tributes for Buffett going, including his upcoming tour with Kenny Chesney, who was also part of the November CMA performance. Chesney opened the CMA tribute with one of Buffett’s “Big 8” Parrothead favorites “A Pirate Looks at Forty” with Coral Reefer Band member and longtime collaborator Mac McAnally.
Chesney first collaborated with Buffett in 2004 for a cover Hank Williams’ 1951 hit “Hey Good Lookin’” featuring Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, George Strait, and Clint Black and later on the title track of Buffet’s 2004 album License To Chill.
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Since Buffett’s passing, Zac Brown Band has also added two of his songs into their set each night. “We’re just tipping the hat to him,” says Brown, who jumps back in time again when thinking of Buffett and when he joined the band during their CMT Crossroads performance in 2009. The band had just released their debut The Foundation a year earlier, and Buffett’s presence, says Brown, was the push they needed.
“He passed us the torch, and that meant a lot,” shares Brown. Zac Brown Band went on to collaborate with Buffett on their 2010 song “Knee Deep,” which follows the story of a man who copes with a recent breakup by escaping on a boat. Released on the band’s second album, You Get What You Give, “Knee Deep” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
“There’s a whole lot of people that were coming to see his shows,” says Brown. “I knew it was pretty serious when he canceled the tour because he’s like me. He was gonna play no matter what.”
Now, Brown says he’s in talks with Buffett’s team to see how they can keep his legacy alive with more tributes, but it’s going to take more time to deal with the “huge loss” of his passing.
“It was such an elegant way to put it, ‘He’s about to exit the stage,'” says Brown of Larsen’s words. “His [Buffett’s] life was incredible. He was a gangster back in the day. I’ve heard a lot of stories. Jimmy was a hustler. Even in his older years, he was running around, and he never stayed anywhere more than 72 hours.”
Buffett was still working on business deals, music, and more through the end of his life. “He was such a brilliant mind, a brilliant poet, writer, and entertainer,” says Brown. “He’s missed.”
In between the tour with Chesney, Zac Brown Band is also working on the next album, following their 17th The Comeback from 2021. Along with the 10 songs Brown says he has in the works so far for the album, Buffet’s “Pirates and Parrots” will likely be part of its tracklist.
“We’re all only here for a little while, and what we do, and what we put ourselves into, it’s those things, [that live on] after we’re gone,” says Brown. “And Jimmy will live on through all of the songs and the memories of all of his people, and he’ll continue to new generations.”
Photo: Mickey Bernal/WireImage
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