Jimmy Buffett & Marnie Sutton

This is an interview with Jimmy Buffett after he played with Jerry Jeff Walker at the Paramount Theatre for Jerry Jeff's Birthday Celebration. They played acoustic guitar together with a special guest appearance by Django Walker and in between they told stories and shared memories with the audience. It was an incredible experience to see two old friends talking and hanging out as though they were the only two people on a beach in the Florida Keys.

Q: Did you have your first margarita here in Austin and is that what started "Margaritaville"?

A: I don't think I had my first margarita, but I'll tell you want it was. It was one of the best margaritas I ever had, because it made a lasting impression. I'd never thought of it until Jerry Jeff said it to me when we were going to rehearsals today "Didn't you start Margaritaville in Austin?" I went, "Oh, my God, yeah." And I remember it being a really, really hot day. But I remember it. I remember the funny thing was that it led to Jerry Jeff and I talking about the fact that he was the one who and said, "You know, it's pretty cool out here." I've always loved Austin, but I don't get here as much as I'd like to. But I think back to the fact that Jerry Jeff was probably the first guy here. I think even before Willie. And he called me and said, "You've got to come out here, because it's really happening out here." And he got me a gig at the old Castle Creek. And that's how I got to Austin. And so, subsequently, because of the fact that I was working out here that hot day and that great margarita turned into a rather good song.

Q: How did they get you here tonight?

A: We've been discussing this for a couple of weeks. And basically, I came through a week ago and I had been with Susan and Jerry Jeff. And it was like, okay, we're going to kind of do this and we're going to walk in. And we'll kind of do songs. And I said, "Well, you know, I kind of put together a set list of Texas songs and Key West songs that kind of were influenced." And actually, it worked out, but other things just came completely off the top of our head. Then I realized we were done and it was an hour and 40 minutes. I thought we had been up there about a half an hour.

Q: To see you guys up on stage, you're more comedians and old buddies. You make it look so effortless.

A: Well, I think what it is is, we're entertainers. And that's what's lacking, to me, in acts these days is, you know, there's not -- in this generation of performers there's not a lot of entertainers. And I think the greatest thing for me tonight was, there are two things that were -- other than simply getting up there and having just about as much fun performing as I've had in a while, I kind of got introspective to see Jerry Jeff and Django out there singing. I never met Django. I've met his daughter before, but I've never met Django. And what a great kid. And Jerry Jeff with a son like that singing together and how proud he was and how cool that looked. That was a magic moment. I mean, it really was for me. And that's what it's all about, that you see. I just thought -- Django is a kid that's got it. He's been raised by an entertaining family. I mean, I was quite impressed with him.

Q: You're used to playing in front of 30,000 people, as opposed to maybe 1000 -- 1200. What are the differences in that?

A: I never envisioned the fact that I'd be 55 years old and still out here playing to 25,000, 30,000 people a night. I thought this would be over a long time ago. I went to Hawaii just to go surfing, to do my annual, you know, go to the Pacific routine. And by the end of it I said, "Well, now I've got to go to Austin to play and I haven't played in a while. So I played last night in Honolulu and we didn't let anybody know. And like 4,000 people showed up on the beach. But it was fun. I mean, I love that. But I did it by myself, acoustic. I learned a lot of that from Jerry Jeff and other people that were instrumental in being great solo performers, because before we ever had bands, we couldn't afford bands. We had to go out there and be the band. And it's easy to get sidetracked by overproduction and big numbers and in the big show.

Now, I love doing the big show. I really do. It's like the circus. But I still think, as a performer, being true to myself, I still have to challenge myself to go back to that chord-basic, acoustic 101 thing and make sure I can do it. I love doing it. And I do it -- and that's the great thing now. I mean, now, I'm lucky enough to be at that point where, yeah, I can go out and do a major tour and draw as many people as the top other acts in the country, but still, I can come do Jerry Jeff's thing or I can go to Waikiki and play on the beach.

Q: Do you see playing acoustic by yourself as a solo artist as kind of a challenge, even after everything you've accomplished?

A: I think it's the biggest challenge. I think you've got to be able to go back there and do it, because it's easy not to. I mean, for other people. For me, it's not. I challenge myself because if I'm any good, I still have to be able to do that, because that's where you learn to be an entertainer. Because there's nothing else there. You can't hide behind a bank of amps. You can't sing to a track. And you better be funny and you better be entertaining or nobody's going to pay to see you and they will fire you. And that's the school out of which I came.

I think as long as I can be true to myself as a performer and play at that level and challenge myself and still know that I can deal with a heckler, I can do this. It reflects in the big show as well, because, there are nights that I have no idea how I do what I do. You know, I look around and I just have to laugh. I mean, sometimes I get out there and I go, God almighty, look at this. You just have to enjoy it and appreciate it. And I do. I think it's amazing. I never have anticipated it going this long. I just was doing what I thought was my job.

Q: What motivates you? You could buy Miami! Haha - You can quit now and have fun, but what keeps you going?

A: I think what it is is the fact that, if you make the commitment to come out here and try to do this, it's not known for job security. You know, the people that make it, as opposed to the people that would like to make it, my God, the percentage is, I don't know what. It's like wining the lottery or something. But I think it takes a combination of a couple of things. You've got to have a work ethic. You've got to be willing work. You've got to have a little bit of talent and you've got to have a lot of luck. And two out of the three won't get you there. And somehow or another, I was able to -- if you work hard enough and long enough, you'll get lucky. And if you've got any kind of talent -- you know, I'm a fair singer, I'm a fair guitar player. I mean, it's not my strong suit. But I'm a good entertainer. So I know what my strong suit is. I can hire a good guitar player. I mean, I didn't need to be one when I was doing it by myself. So -- you put it all together and you try and all of a sudden, you say, okay, I'm going to make this commitment to come out there and do this. And you basically abandon everything you've ever been taught by your parents and everything about security and all that, because that's what everybody else does.

When you go out there and commit to be a performer, you're putting your ass out on a limb. And in doing so, you've got to make some sacrifices. The process of that occurring is long and hard. I remember quite vividly the first ten years of my career, when nobody cared who I was or what I was doing. So what drives me now that I've got all that success-- Are those years, I'm not going to stop until they drive me off the stage, I put in time when nobody cared who I was, what I did, and I had to work really hard to get people to like me. So am I going to walk away from 30,000 people who like me? I don't think so. And as long as I'm doing a good job -- and that's what it is. I don't really care about reviews anymore. I don't care whether critics like what we do on stage or like what we do on records. I really care about the fans who pay the money to buy the record or pay the money to see the show and get a true evening's enjoyment out of our show or get an enjoyment out of the record. That's all that matters to me.

And when I look out there and all of a sudden we're not selling out year after year and it's down -- all of a sudden we go, oh, my God, we're two-thirds of the house, I'll go, you know, it's been a great run. That might be when I hang it up. But it hasn't happened.

Q: As long as you are still having fun and making it a good experience - the crowds will see that and they will keep coming. Making it a positive experience is what makes it special.

A: It's the most important thing, because that's where it is. I sat up there and looked at Jerry Jeff. I said, Look at him up there, boogying his ass off at 60. I'm 55 and I had already kind of projected in my mind, I'm going to do this for a couple more years. Two more years and then I'm going to slide in and do things that I want, little shows and yada, yada. And there's Jerry Jeff at 60 doing it. I'm at least here till 60. So that's five more years I'm going to be doing this. At least.