Tales from my bank ofbad habits parrot press

Excerpts from the Honolulu Star Bulletin interview with Jimmy Buffett on Feb. 27th…

“"The new song was easy to write -- I mean, just look around!" he said with a laugh.”All you have to do is open the newspaper. And it's a work-in-progress. After Michael Phelps was kicked off the Kellogg's Corn Flakes box, I'm thinking of adding another verse about that in the song. All he did was smoke a little reefer!”

As for recordings, Buffett is planning to release a live acoustic album later this year comprising encores recorded during his most recent tour. “I know my fan base, Parrotheads who want to add to their collection. Thanks to them I've been surviving this long. The idea was, during every show last year, I looked through my catalog and went through the process of picking songs that would sound kind of unique in an acoustic setting. They were the kind of songs that would fit in an encore, where there is a mellowness about them. The audience has already been through a show with a high energy level, so it would be good to let them down gently."

Out of the 28 songs recorded, Buffett feels he's put together an interesting selection of originals and covers, "particularly ballads, where I use that little bit of opportunity to do songs that I really like."

Hawaii's own ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has been a regular on Buffett's tours since 2005. Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band welcome Shimabukuro with open arms whenever a date in the uke master's busy schedule opens up.

"The sad thing about today's world is that there seems to be a diminishing amount of authenticity everywhere in music. Jake, on the other hand, is a great, authentic performer and an incredible musician. I'm certainly in awe of that. The first time I watched him in a small club on Oahu, I just thought he was incredible live.

"There's a funny story about Jake when he first started playing with me and the band. One year, we were the headliner at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival -- 100,000 people, great show. But little did I know that he had picked to do another gig in town before we would go on, at the House of Blues, going on after the Radiators. Now, the Radiators are legendary in New Orleans -- they're like us back home in Key West -- and I thought, 'my God, the crowd's going to kill him,' because this is Jake's first solo show.

"So I went down to his gig, and I brought my security guards, just in case, to get him after he was done. Well, he killed all right -- he brought the house down! And here we were so worried for him. Jake just has no fear, no consternation, when he's on stage."

Shimabukuro considers Buffett "a real big brother." The ukulele-playing "little brother" will be showcased at Buffett's Waikiki restaurant at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, backed by his able band of Noel Okimoto, Dean Taba and Michael Grande.

"I've been a nomad with one foot in the Pacific, and now that I've put a place in Hawaii, it's given me a great excuse to play there."