Jimmy Buffett just dropped his first album in 27 years. At the end of May, Buffett shared Life On The Flip Side.
After spending more than 5 years working on Margaritaville The Musical, Buffett started focusing on his new album. He spent two years writing the new songs and now Buffett is set to make his Grand Ole Opry debut on June 27th. Back in 1971, Buffett was a reporter for Billboard Magazine. During his time as a reporter, he covered shows several Opry shows, especially ones at the Opry. However, he only played one time with Jenny Lewis. His debut will be his first time performing on his own with friends Brad Paisley, and Mac McAnally.
Buffett continued sharing stories from his time as a reporter. He said at the time, it was "pre-outlaw" country music time. The artists on the rise were Lynn Anderson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, among others. Despite having a Journalism degree, Buffett planned on reporting being a temporary job. He says the job gave him the ability to figure things out in the music industry for his future music career.
When it came to his music career, Buffett shared his thoughts on his collaborations with Alan Jackson and Zac Brown Band. He said he felt honored that people thought of him as someone to look to when it came to "beach music." For him, Gordon Lightfoot and Merle Haggard were the artists he looked up to and inspired to be like. As far as the song that inspired all things Buffet, "Margaritaville," he shared when and how the song was actually written. He confirmed he started writing it in Austin, Texas. He had a burrito and margarita at a Mexican restaurant that is no longer in business, and he says it was a hot day and the margarita hit the spot. That inspired the origin of the song. From there, he was driving with some others back down to Key West, Florida when they got caught in standstill traffic. He finished the song while waiting for traffic to continue and later that night he performed the song at a bar in Key West. The audience seemed to enjoy the song and from there, the song became a life of its own.