Welcome to our Mac McAnally Interview! If you have been to a JimmyBuffett concert in the last thirty, you have seen Mac McAnally right by his side. After the tragedy of losing Jimmy last September, Mac and The Coral Reefer Band have been following the final request made to them by their long-time leader, simply, to Keep The Party Going. In a year that could have been filled with lots of grief and heartache as the passing of our Jimmy Buffett, Mac McAnally and the whole Buffett team have helped soften the hurt. After an unforgettable tribute show at the Hollywood Bown in L.A., and a tribute at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Mac and The Reefers are playing three additional tribute shows, including one at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, OH…the home of the Parrot Heads!
Join me as I speak to Mac about the past year paying tribute to his dear friend, and what it means to come back and play in Cincinnati, OH. And be sure to make plans to attend one of these tribute shows. I guarantee The Coral Reefers will be honoring Jimmy Buffett and will Keep the Party Going!
The Music Room: I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out to do this, man. It is a huge honor. And I really appreciate it.
Mac McAnally: It’s my privilege. We’re excited about getting to play again.
TMR: As you said, you guys are on your way to the first of three tribute shows for Jimmy. Yep. I saw on socials when you were doing rehearsals. What is a Coral Reefer rehearsal like? I have to imagine it’s kind of like a big family reunion after some time goes by.
MM: Family reunion is the exact words that you would use. You know, the music makes us smile, and seeing one another makes us smile. And the opportunity to get out there and keep the party going, which we were specifically instructed to do.
TMR: Obviously, you’ve all played together for decades now. But when it comes to doing something like this, is there added pressure knowing it’s a tribute to Jimmy, or is it just business as usual?
MM: Well, there’s joy in the possibility of doing it. But there is, you know, playing Jimmy’s songs without Jimmy is a whole new deal. And I’ve been doing it some in my solo shows, as well as some of the other folks. Nadirah (Shakoor) plays solo shows and Scotty Emmerick as well. And Will Kimbrough, we’ve all done some of that. And we had a great time out at the Hollywood Bowl with all of the folks that love Jimmy guest lead singing with us, and Jazz Fest was awesome. But these are, you know, the first standalone Coral Reefer shows without Jimmy being there in the middle of the stage. And so, there’s a little, I’m sure there’s a little extra butterflies that go with that. But by the same token, we know him, and we know what he loved to do. We’re who he handpicked to play his music, so we feel qualified, if anybody is, to play these shows. But you know, there is no replacing, Jimmy. He’s not a replaceable guy. So, instead, we’re going to honor him. And we’re going to honor him as best we can.
TMR: Like you said, you did the Hollywood Bowl show. When did these three shows… had they been planned for a little while? Or was it after the Hollywood show it was like, okay, we got to keep this going? When did these three shows get planned?
MM: Obviously, Jimmy leaving was not planned. So, he had his agreements that were with management and agents and everything, so it was kind of like starting from scratch with what came next to the point that we sort of assumed it would probably be 2025 before we could really get anything arranged. But The Bowl went so well, and Jazz Fest was so well received, the offers started coming in and we’re like, okay, let’s see if we can make this happen. And Jimmy’s estate, having been instructed the same as we were, with that he would like his music to keep rolling, made it as easy as possible to get ready and do these shows as quickly as possible. And this is about as quickly as it could have gotten done. I think following Jazz Fest, we didn’t do anything until after the tribute show. The family didn’t want to, and honestly, we didn’t either. We didn’t want anything to happen until after that tribute show. And Jazz Fest, you know, Jimmy was sort of the patron saint of Jazz Fest. So, that fell after the tribute show. But, this is about as quick as we could have gotten things together. And we’re sort of surprised, like I said, that we even got to do anything in 2024. So, we’re excited about doing these three and we’re excited about what follows.
TMR: That’s awesome. I got to tell you, I’m in Cincinnati… home of the Parrot Heads. You know, COVID was one thing. With COVID you knew nobody was playing and it was lonely. Last year, I mean, I knew something… I didn’t have any idea of the extent, but I knew something was weird. A Riverbend schedule without Jimmy and The Coral Reefers on it felt really strange.
MM: Yes.
TMR: We didn’t know what was going on. But I’ve got to tell you what, with you guys coming here, what it’s going to mean to a lot of people to have this back on the concert schedule and to have you guys on that stage in Cincinnati… it’s more than a concert and it’s just…I hope you guys know what this is going to mean to a lot of people on Sunday, August 4, myself as well.
MM: And I hope the people you’re talking about know how much it means to us as well. And you know, I’ve talked to quite a few folks… I played a few shows up at Ludlow (Garage) earlier this year and I talked to a lot of folks who were saying, “I can’t wait till something happens at Riverbend.” And we’re in the same boat. My first big show with Jimmy was, I came out when he was recording the Feeding Frenzy album. So, I came to Riverbend, and I’d never seen anything like that. And that was what 1991 – 92? And that was my introduction to what Jimmy had become. Even though we had been friends for a long time, I hadn’t been to the big shows. I worked on the records, and I had young kids at home. So, I didn’t do the road so much. And to come out there and see that, to see what it had grown into at Cincinnati for the first time. It made an impression that will last the rest of my life. So, to come back and sing these songs there again this weekend is just amazing. We’re excited about it. And we’ve talked to so many people. It’s a family reunion for us, obviously. But it is also a family reunion for the fans, a lot of them from Cincinnati, but a lot of them who come to Cincinnati every year for the tailgate, and to experience what Cincinnati built for Jimmy and his legacy. And they have people they expect to see every year in the parking lot. So that’s going to be a family reunion of a different variety for them. But it applies to all of us.
TMR: Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of healing. And, you know, it’s hard not to get personal on this, but I remember thinking back in September, nothing’s ever going to be the same again not having Jimmy with us. And I got to tell you, this year has been amazing because of the efforts of the estate, of Mailboat Records, and of The Coral Reefers. I saw you at the shows there at Ludlow, I saw you at one of those shows and talked to you. I was probably one of those people that said we need to get this going. It was an amazing night of tears and laughter and a lot of good stuff. And then I made the trip out there to LA for the tribute show. And it was the same thing. You guys took the stage, and my first reaction was tears and by the end of the night, you know, we had the Fins up. And it’s what you guys are doing and what this is… like this past year and the healing that’s been able to happen has just been amazing. Such a great organization of people that are keeping the legacy alive, and it just means the world to us.
MM: It’s a great testament to Jimmy for the group of people that he put together. You know, if he hadn’t been Jimmy Buffett, he would have been a great CEO just because he identifies good people and puts them together. And we’re all lucky and blessed to know one another. But we’re also lucky to have all of the joy that lives on in his music to keep it rolling, to keep that going, and remind people how much good he left us.
TMR: And even with the vinyl reissues that have been coming out this year have been amazing. So, every little detail has been covered. It’s been great. I have to touch on that LA tribute show because it really spoke a lot about Jimmy with the people that came out. I mean, you had Paul McCartney for Pete’s sake getting backed up by The Eagles…that was incredible. But just that whole night, all the surprises, and my favorite part were the stories.
MM: Yeah, I agree.
TMR: Harrison Ford, one of the coolest dudes in the world, when he came out, I about lost it. And Brandi Carlile’s story about how Jimmy and her relationship, just man. I know that I have a lot of moments that stuck out to me, like I said, Paul McCartney walking around with a margarita in his hand.
(laughter)
TMR: When Zac Brown came out and took his pants and shoes off and said he’s got to do it right. For you being on that stage…was there any, I know the whole thing was incredible, were there any moments that just really stuck out to you, and you’ll never forget?
MM: Oh, there’s so many. You know, I was the musical director of that show so it’s something that I’d worked on at some level from September all the way to April. And to see it come together. And to see how obvious it was that it’s a whole bunch of people that love Jimmy Buffett. There wasn’t anything about a bunch of folks taking an opportunity to network, or to further their own careers. They just genuinely loved Jimmy. And he loved all of them. And he loved all of the fans and he loved playing more than anybody I’ve ever known. He loved playing the show. So, he was definitely there. And he was definitely smiling that big smile that’s wider than his head all night long. So, it plays as one continuous moment to me. Musically, we had rehearsed kind of what was gonna happen and I knew sort of how it was gonna go musically or how we were hoping it went and it went so good. It went better than we would have dreamed. But my surprise memory of the night was Snoop Dogg exhaling about three cubic yards of smoke up on the second step on the stage. That was amazing. And no human being could hold that much smoke. (laughing)
TMR: Yeah, that was a moment watching The Coral Reefers and Snoop Dogg play together. That was a moment.
MM: Yeah, that was awesome. But just to see, to see all the mutual love between, you know, disparate musical styles, you know, Jon Bon Jovi and Pitbull and, and Brandi and Jackson Browne and, and Kenny Chesney and Zac… and just to see all of that come together and the Eagles and Paul. You know, it kind of started from Paul down. Paul and Jimmy were really close friends and once Paul said I’ll do whatever, I just want to honor Jimmy the best way we can, then you know, then it would have been kind of hard for anybody else to be too much of a diva after that. Because if Paul McCartney is going to be a blue collar guy loving his buddy then the rest of us are going to be too. He set the bar I think at the beginning and I don’t I don’t know anybody better than The Coral Reefer Band to play Jimmy Buffett music. We looked at it as a blessing and a privilege and I think everybody else that came did the same.
TMR: I agree. Making that trip out there was something I couldn’t not be a part of. I’d seen you at The Ludlow, and it was amazing, but seeing the rest of the guys and the girls in the Reefer Band man, it was just… well yeah, awesome. So, a lot of a lot of good happened there.
MM: It certainly was. I had a crazy bud from Mississippi who rode a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles from Tupelo, Mississippi and rode a Greyhound bus all the way back. It probably took him two weeks to see that show. But he said he kept tearing up all the way there and all the way home in the anticipation of it and then in the memories of it as well. So that’s a wonderful thing.
TMR: Yeah, I was in the Cincinnati airport that morning and you had people, I mean even in the airport, Parrot Heads… you knew you’re looking at other Parrot Heads by their T shirts and their hats and stuff and we were all ready to go. Like you said, you’ve been coming to Cincinnati for a long time. Is there anything that you look forward to when you’re here in town, anything that you do like to do, like getting some Skyline chili.
MM: Well, Skyline is a staple. Graeter’s ice cream is a staple for us too. And I’m an ice cream fanatic. I don’t really want to relate how much Graeter’s ice cream I had when we were there at the Ludlow Garage shows earlier this year, but I’ll be wearing it. And I’ll be wearing it again this weekend before it’s over too. So, I’m excited about all of it.
TMR: Before I let you off, I have to talk about I mean, obviously your work with Jimmy is amazing. But as a solo artist, you have quite a big announcement you made. You’re gonna be playing… headlining for the first time ever, the Ryman Auditorium in January 2025. I just want to say congratulations and ask you what that means headlining that venue.
MM: That venue is a sacred place to me. They call it the mother church of country music and it’s one of the few things in show business that’s not an exaggeration. It really is. You feel all the folks that have been there before when you go in there, and it’s still my favorite room to play in Nashville. I’ve gotten to play it as a sideman. And I’ve gotten to play it as a band member. And I’ve gotten to play it with some of my buddies as an opening act. But I never dreamed of headlining a show there. Honestly, my biggest dream for the Ryman was to be there with Jimmy when he played it for the first time because he never played it. He went there as a journalist as a Billboard reporter and wrote reviews of shows, but he never got to play it himself. And we plotted about five different special shows that he wanted to do. He always wanted it to be special when he did it. So, he said, “I don’t want to go and just play a regular Jimmy show there. I want it to be specifically for the Ryman when we do it,” and we didn’t get it done. We had it planned a couple of times during the pandemic and then you know, then what happened with his health happened and we didn’t get it done. So, I’m going to drag him there with me on January the 31st and he’s gonna be there with us. That’s the way I look at it.
TMR: I don’t think there will be much dragging. He’ll probably be there waiting on you when you get there.
MM: Oh, he’ll be waiting when we get there.
TMR: I hope to see you there as well. I’m going to have to make that trip as well.
MM: Well, I hope to see you there as well. You know, that it’s a privilege to play the building but it’s also a privilege to go represent Jimmy and a little bit of what we talked about doing and trying to incorporate that into what happens in January as well.
TMR: We talked about, you know, everything kind of that I know of coming up. Is there anything you want people to know about? Anything else that we didn’t cover? Anything, you just want to let the fans know about what’s going on in the world of Mac McAnally?
MM: Well, I don’t want to talk about the world of Mac McAnally, but I’ll talk about the world of The Coral Reefers. We are thrilled to get to carry on the legacy and to try to be worthy of it in front of folks again. It meant a lot to Jimmy that it kept happening, and it means at least that much to us to try to keep it rolling.
TMR: All right, well, again, I just have to tell you, from a personal point of view, I want to thank you and to the rest of the band and the whole organization, thank you for making what should have been a really hard year a lot easier…as easy as it could have been. There has been a lot of smiling when it was gonna be a lot of tears. So, I can’t thank you guys enough. And I’m looking so forward to seeing you guys on that Riverbend stage once again on Sunday.
MM: We’re so pumped about it as well. And we thank you for the support.
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