The New Zealand Herald has an interview with Jimmy Buffett: “The Key of Sea”
Maritime troubadour Jimmy Buffett is dropping anchor in the city of sails next weekend. He talks to Graham Reid.
When tickets for Buffett’s Australian concerts went on sale before Christmas, the promoter Michael Chugg said they immediately had monied people from Dubai, Singapore and all around Australia wanting to block-buy. He enjoyed telling the West Australian head of a multinational, “no”, he couldn’t get any tickets, they were all sold out.
“But I don’t see myself doing much different than I did 40 years ago. Things kinda worked out, you know?” laughs Buffett, a man who laughs a lot.
“As musicians you’re kinda schooled in not doing business because somebody else took care of it, because the business wasn’t about the artist making money or having longevity. We were the disposable commodity.
“But like it or not, if you are captain of the boat you better know where the navigator is going. I’ve done nothing but run things like a ship anyway because that’s the only thing I know anything about. So that’s the way we run this business. There are certain times to play and certain times you need to have your eye on the compass.”
“When times are kind of hard and money is tight [people] want to spend it wisely and they know we’re a pretty good bet. They know they are going to get the best bang for their buck and a good show and that comes from years of having done it, being easy to work with, having a great band and crew, and,” he laughs, “generally doing what entertainers are supposed to do – which is make people feel happy when they take their money.
“We’re still at the top of our game and I just turned 64 … so I don’t see any career change at this point.”