When Jimmy Buffett takes the stage at the Delta Center on Tuesday, Aug. 25, parrotheads probably won't be hearing too many new Buffett tunes. It's been three years since the last album of new Buffett material.
But there is something new on store shelves: The songman's "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads," a four-disc retrospective that includes more than 70 tunes spanning 2 1/2 decades of recording.Any new music is likely to come from the Buffett-tutored Evangeline, a Louisiana quintet that conjures up favorable comparisons to the Eagles and Mary-Chapin Carpenter. Evangeline will open for Buffett.
- EVANGELINE is not exactly a she. It's actually five voices - a delectable mix of cajun, country and folk that is one of the best sounds to come out of Louisiana in many, many years.
"I guess we are a country band," says co-founder and songwriter Rhonda Lohmeyer. "But we can be a rock band, too. We're a hard thing to pigeonhole. I'd say we're a Louisiana roots band that covers a lot of ground who happens to be marketed to country stations."
Evangeline has the distinction of being the first band signed to Jimmy Buffett's new Margarita-ville Records, a label he created to exercise greater marketing control over his own material.
The subsequent self-titled release, compiled under the personal attention of Buffett, is a delightful exercise in variety. The first single, "I Am A Fool," is a country weeper through and through, while "Bon Temps La Louisiane" is a pure cajun romp. Throw in the jazzy "Hurricane," the rollicking "Bayou Boy," the honky-tonk "Hey Rene," a folkie cover of Nanci Griffith's "Gulf Coast Highway" and a bluesy cover of Van Morrison's "Carrying a Torch" and you have a musical gumbo that makes "Evangeline" a brilliant debut.
"It's extremely eclectic," Lohmeyer said. "It's a sound each of us brought from our different backgrounds. Then we had the input from Jimmy. He's been at this a long time, and when he suggested songs we listened. It was he who suggested `Gulf Coast Coast Highway' and `Carrying a Torch.' "
Lohmeyer, who plays guitar, shares songwriting chores with original Evangeline members Sharon Leger (bass and washboard) and Kathleen Stieffel. Stieffel and Leger share lead vocals with keyboardist Beth McKee, while Nancy Buchan (fiddle and mandolin) rounds out the band.
While the musical mix is noteworthy, Evangeline's strongest card is its remarkable all-female harmonies. "It all began (in 1988) as a desire to create a band with female harmonies," Lohmeyer said. "One thing led to another."
Their first performance was a highly competitive New Orleans music contest featuring 65 local acts. They won.
Today they are playing before crowds of up to 20,000 as an open
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ing act for Buffett. "Generally, we've had pretty good acceptance," Lohmeyer said. "It's a real challenge to reach the parrotheads in a 35-minute set. But now, we're getting our own fan mail."
- A JIMMY BUFFETT concert is a summer ritual, like barbecues and beach parties.
And despite the fact he hasn't had a "hit" record in more than a decade, he remains one of the strongest concert draws in the business. Tickets are still available for Tuesday night's show ($20 in advance, $22 day of the show), but they are selling briskly.
As Gary Bongiovanni, editor of PollStar magazine, noted: "Jimmy was one of the pleasant surprises of 1991, and there were few of those. He's somewhat like the Grateful Dead; he has his own audience, and it's very loyal to him. We're talking about all kinds of people, too - doctors, lawyers, their children.
"They consider it a rite of summer to see one of his shows. They know that when you go to a Jimmy Buffett show, you have a good time."
The best news out of Margaritaville these days is the "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads" four-disc boxed set, the first release on his Margaritaville Records. The 72 songs cover virtually every period of his storied career.
But perhaps the tastiest treat is the liner notes in which Buffett explains the origin and inspiration for each song, many of which are deeply personal reminiscences of family and friends.
Buffett would like to see Margaritaville Records become a haven for sensitive singer-songwriters who get the short end of the flash and sass of the MTV and Top 40 radio.
As Buffett told one reviewer: "I'd like Margaritaville to be an oasis for good singers, good songwriters and good entertainers. What I'm looking for is the next James Taylor or Jimmy Buffett - some 18-year-old songwriter who has a good attitude, loves to perform and is not as interested in instant success. The neat thing about having the label is to go and find them and give them the platform I have."
Compiling the 72 songs for "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads" was a chance for Buffett to review his own accomplishments and provide a fitting "nice end to a chapter" to the first 25 years of his career. Then it's back to writing new music and books.