Jimmy Buffett’s longtime backing group, the Coral Reefer Band, has revealed that they plan to “keep the party going,” in accordance with the late musician’s wishes.
“The Coral Reefer Band is second family to all of us,” singer/guitarist Mac McAnally told Billboard in a new interview. “Jimmy wants us to continue and we want to continue.” Though they don’t know exactly what that will entail, McNally said, “There’s ongoing discussions about the best way to do that, the most practical way to do that, and how to do it in a way that is worthy of the legacy that we’re part of.”
He continued, “We’re going to figure it out and we’re going to do something. Whatever the best equation arrives from those discussions is what we’re going to do. I can’t wait until we [figure it out] because we miss being out there, playing his songs to people, and feeling that alternating current go back and forth from the stage to the crowd. I don’t know who’s got more energy, them or us.”
Besides McAnally, the Coral Reefer Band’s current lineup is made up of keyboardist Michael Utley (who had been with Buffett since the ’70s), steel drummer Robert Greenidge, guitarist/vocalist Peter Mayer, bassist Jim Mayer, drummer Roger Guth, steel pedal guitarist Doyle Grisham, trumpeter John Lovell, percussionist Eric Darken, and vocalists Tina Gullickson and Nadirah Shakoor.
The group’s final concert with Buffett took place on May 6th in San Diego. However, McAnally brought Buffett on stage during his July 2nd show in Rhode Island, where they performed eight songs together, including “Margaritaville” and “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.”
Buffett died this past September at the age of 76 after a prolonged battle with skin cancer and lymphoma. Later this week, his final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, will be released posthumously. Buffett completed it prior to his passing, working with the one and only Paul McCartney on a song titled “My Gummie Just Kicked In.”