Caroline Jones remembers Jimmy Buffett

From The Tennessean: Zac Brown Band’s Caroline Jones remembers Jimmy Buffett as Renaissance man and good friend

Jimmy Buffett was both lighthearted and a very deep soul. He was both a maverick and an Everyman. He was a poet and a pilot. A singer and sailor.

Jimmy Buffett set the bar, both as an artist and a human. Anyone in the music industry knows how rare and difficult it is to succeed at both these endeavors simultaneously.

The majority of legendary and prolific artists achieve great fame and success at the expense of their personal lives, their families, their relationships and their mental health.

I know those words are harsh, but it’s hard to dispute when taking inventory. On the other side of the coin, there are plenty of fulfilled, inspirational folks whose names we will never know, who lead meaningful and important lives rich in community and contribution, but who weren’t born with the exceptional vision and discipline to create on a global scale, or to touch millions of people.

A human being who achieves both legendary artistic status and a rich quality of life in the same lifetime is uncommon and remarkable. That was Jimmy.

Jimmy Buffett cared both about fellow artists and fans

Jimmy was able to, in his words, “tack close to [his] brand” without being consumed by the weight of it and thereby watering down its authenticity.

His energy was seemingly bottomless and totally contagious. When I began opening his shows, I was 28 and he was 71. I had been touring for less than a decade, and he had been touring for nearly five.

I played to his crowds of tens of thousands of people with just a guitar, and he was backed by a 10-piece, tight knit band, the Coral Reefers.

Every night, prior to my set, Jimmy would bound (literally) out onto the stage in his bare feet to introduce me personally to his fans, the Parrotheads. This is unheard of.

The star of the show never shows their face prior to the opening song of their set, let alone to set the opening act up for success with a seal of approval. Most headliners will purposely turn the volume of the opening act down, or turn off the cameras and screens to make the transition to the headline set more impactful. This is all very standard.

But Jimmy a) believed in me and b) cared deeply about his fans’ experience.

He pored over the setlist every night, an activity one could argue unnecessary, as any amount of deep cuts or fan favorites would have been welcomed by the audience. But he delighted in the process like a child. The excitement on his face rivaled Christmas morning.

Read the full article at The Tennessean: Zac Brown Band’s Caroline Jones remembers Jimmy Buffett as Renaissance man and good friend