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From TCPalm.com: “Vero Beach boatbuilder, Jimmy Buffett team up to help recover oiled wildlife in Gulf”

The images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are serving as a call to action for men and women who have built their lives on the water like Vero Beach boatbuilders Mark Castlow and Jimbo Meador, and Meador’s longtime friend, musician Jimmy Buffett.

Days after people began to learn about the magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, Castlow e-mailed Meador and Buffett who were in the Bahamas fishing for bonefish. Castlow’s message was simple: “We have to do something.”

Early next week, Dragonfly Boatworks, a small custom boatbuilding company, expects to ship a vessel designed specifically to aid in the recovery of oil-covered wildlife along the marshes of the Gulf Coast.

The first SWAT is headed to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory operated by the University of Southern Mississippi. The scientists there were chosen to receive the first one in part because it is Buffett’s alma mater.

The singer, songwriter, restaurateur and author is underwriting the construction costs of the four boats estimated at about $35,000 apiece. Dragonfly Boatworks also is donating much of the expense, and the company is in the process of trying to partner with an outboard engine manufacturer to help with the cause.

The first Margaritaville in Canada will currently scheduled to open on June 18th in Niagara Falls. The website for Margaritaville Niagara Falls is now available at www.margaritavilleniagara.ca and there is also a Facebook page called Margaritaville Canada.

From RadioMargaritaville.com: MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND PARADE OF CONCERTS!

Join us as we kick off summer vacation season! The entire Memorial Day weekend will be one big party with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers as the house band. Listen for non-stop concert replays from stops all across the country!

This Friday (6 pm) through Memorial Day Monday
Listen to the concert replays on Radio Margaritaville / SIRIUS 31 / XM Radio 55

Saturday, May 29
12am-2:20am — Easthampton, NY 10/13/01
6am-8:20am — Charlotte, NC 4/29/08
12pm-2:05pm — Pittsburgh, PA 8/2/96
6pm- 8:08pm — Atlanta, GA 6/2/06

Sunday, May 30
12am-2:08am — Mansfield, MA 6/22/05
6am-8:30am — San Francisco 10/18/07
12pm-2:20pm — Easthampton, NY 10/13/01
6pm-8:20pm — Charlotte, NC 4/29/08

Monday, May 31
12am-2:05am — Pittsburgh, PA 8/2/96
6am-8:20am — Easthampton, NY 10/13/01
12pm-2:08pm — Mansfield, MA 6/22/05
6pm-8:05pm — Pittsburgh, PA 8/2/96
12am-2:30am — San Francisco 10/18/07

Jimmy Buffett performed for Michael Douglas as he collected a Chaplin Award at the Alice Tully Hall Lincoln Centre. Read about it at Daily Mail Online.

A special music performance will be provided by singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, a long-time friend of Douglas, who also performed at the actor’s wedding to Catherine Zeta Jones

The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article by Ken Hoffman: “Backstage with Buffett: Good times for all”

Most concert tickets insist “No photography or recording devices allowed.”

A Jimmy Buffett concert is different.

For the past 10 years, Buffett has been broadcasting every one of his concerts live and complete on his own Radio Margaritaville station. And this year, he’s been streaming video, from the opening song through his second encore, on the Internet, including that afternoon’s sound check and rehearsal.

“We’ve been streaming every concert live, for free, for 10 or 11 years now on our radio station. This year, we started putting live video on ustream.com. I don’t know of any other artist who would even consider doing this,” said Coleman Sisson, Woodlands resident and general manager of Radio Margaritaville on Sirius radio and www.margaritaville.com.

Before the show, the mood backstage was calm. Band members talked with friends, relatives and local big shots. Peter Mayer gave away guitar picks to children. Mac MacAnally, who stands next to Buffett onstage and sings Alan Jackson’s part on It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, said, “I don’t know, but for some reason, this is a really good time and place for the band. Things are real happy. The ball just keeps rolling.”

The Margaritaville Beach Hotel in Pensacola Beach, FL is now taking reservations.

PLEASE NOTE: Tentative opening late June or early July.
RATES:
$299-$399 (through 9/11/10)
$219-$319 (9/12/10-11/27/10)
$179-$279 (11/28/10-1/1/11)
$219-$319 (1/2/11-5/22/11)

A Job Fair will take place June 3rd to June 6th at the Margaritaville Beach Hotel from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM for all Hotel, Food and Beverage hourly positions.

From PRWeb: Margaritaville Foods recently launched the newest addition to the portfolio of island-inspired food and beverage products, Margaritaville all-natural, breaded chicken breast chunks, at the 2010 Food Marketing Institute Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The newest Margaritaville Chicken line of products includes 3 flavors of fully cooked, frozen and easy to prepare breaded chicken breast chunks. Each chicken breast chunk item is sold in a 25 oz. bag and includes 2 sauce packets with flavors and spices inspired by Island cuisine. The flavors include Island Buffalo, Sweet & Sour Mango and Spicy Orange. The two packets in each bag provide ample sauce perfect for tossing and/or dipping the product.

Jimmy Buffett’s 2010 Under the Big Top Tour continued on Saturday night with a show at the Pizza Hut Park in Frisco TX.

Some changes to the set list included
“Nothing But A Breeze” (last played 7/26/07 in Cincinnati, OH)
“Trip Around the Sun” (last played 8/27/05 in Philadelphia, PA)

The final encore was Jimmy with Mac McAnnally:
“Growing Older But Not Up” - 1/14/10: Bloody Mary’s - Bora Bora,

The set list and comments from the show are now available.

The Big Top tour resumes on June 17th at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA.

Jimmy Buffett’s 2010 Under the Big Top Tour heads to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX tonight. Listen to the show live on Radio Margaritaville at 9:00 PM Eastern and follow along with the set list right here on BN.

UStream.tv will broadcast the soundcheck some time between 4:00 and 6:30 pm Eastern and some of the show (or may be most of the show) starting at 9:00 pm Eastern!
http://www.ustream.tv/bttour

Jimmy Buffett’s 2010 Under the Big Top Tour continued tonight with a show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion near Houston TX.

Some changes to the set list included
“Bank Of Bad Habits”
“Elvis Presley Blues”
“Tampico Trauma”

The show ended with Jimmy playing an acoustic version of “Cowboy In The Jungle” (last played January 14th, 2010 in Bora Bora)

The set list and comments from the show are now available.

Update: The Houston Chronicle has a review of the show: “Jimmy Buffett brings good times to Woodlands Pavilion”

The Houston Press has a review of the show: “Jimmy Buffett Kicks Off His Flip-Flops At The Woodlands“

Jimmy Buffett’s 2010 Under the Big Top Tour heads to Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Woodlands, TX tonight. Listen to the show live on Radio Margaritaville at 9:00 PM Eastern and follow along with the set list right here on BN.

UStream.tv will broadcast the soundcheck between 4:00 and 6:30 pm Eastern and some of the show (or may be most of the show) starting at 9:00 pm Eastern!
http://www.ustream.tv/bttour

Update: Soundcheck started around 4:40 PM Eastern

1) Bank of Bad Habits
2) Tampico Trauma
3) Elvis Presley Blues
4) Trip Around the Sun
5) Nothing But A Breeze
6) Northeast Texas Women
7) Nobody From Nowhere

The Gulf Breeze News has an article with more details on the Margaritaville Beach Hotel that will is scheduled to open in Pensacola Beach in June: “Buffett, hotel deal rock Hess’ world”

Marilyn Hess feels as if she won the lottery. As head of Little Sabine, Inc., she was finalizing the details to open a Gulf-front hotel on Pensacola Beach, replacing the Holiday Inn that Hurricane Ivan washed away in 2004 …

But now the real work begins. To meet the target opening in mid to late June for the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, workers are retrofitting the kitchen to accommodate “Frank and Lola’s” restaurant inside the hotel so it can serve signature Margaritaville Café dishes such as the “cheeseburger in paradise.” A pool bar is being constructed as well as an outdoor bar and entertainment area tentatively named “Land Shark Landing.” The Margaritaville Café is scheduled to open on a parcel adjacent to the hotel in Spring of 2011.

“Frank and Lola’s” is a reference to the 1982 Buffett song about a couple on their second honeymoon in Pensacola, a reference most fans will recognize.

Room rates will range from $195 to $450 per night depending on the season and accommodations. Margaritaville Beach Hotel will offer meeting space, a board room and a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mexico through massive glass windows.

“It will have the most beautiful bar area you can imagine,” Hess said.

Reservations will be taken at www.margaritavillehotel.com within a few days, and it is expected to be a hit, especially with the national press the venture is getting.