February 02, 2006, 3:50 PM ET
Biilboard Magazine
Jeff Vrabel, Jacksonville, Fla.

Chief Parrothead and summer touring perennial Jimmy Buffett told his Radio Margaritaville listeners yesterday (Feb. 1) that he's planning to take the summer off this year.

"I'm kinda taking it easy now," he said in a conversation with Radio Margaritaville DJ Miles Hampton. "It's the last summer with my kids before they go off to boarding school, so I'm gonna travel with them and work the spring and the fall. I don't want to do much right now," he added with a laugh.

That said, he reported that he's "firming up a few dates" for a spring tour, most of which are rumored to be in the southeast. "Everybody seems to figure it out before I do anyway," he said. He added that he's planning "some interesting things for the fall." Last fall, Buffett did two shows at Chicago's Wrigley Field; the previous year he played Fenway Park in Boston.

Buffett has also been putting in time at his Shrimp Boat Studios in Key West, Fla., recording the follow-up to 2004's "License to Chill," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. Ten tracks are done, with three more set to be recorded in February. "We're on pace for it to come out in the fall," Buffett said.

In addition to those songs, Buffett will contribute three or four tracks, including a duet with his "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" partner Alan Jackson, to the soundtrack of the film "Hoot."

Based on the Carl Hiassen novel, the Wil Shriner-directed teen drama is set for U.S. release on April 28 and will find Buffett in a small role as a marine science teacher. The soundtrack features a duet between Maroon 5 and Bill Withers as well as "some young great new talent," Buffett said.

DPH Members; We'll keep you updated as soon as we know anything.

Fellow parrot head, Shawn Shelton, is by far one of the luckiest guys we know (if you don't believe us, look no further than the beautiful lady he's married too). You might remember that Shawn won the Stumpo El Bando at one of the past Buffett concerts. So we weren't surprised when we hear that Shawn, now referred to as Shawn Sugar Shelton, won an all inclusive trip for two to the Bahamas through the Bob and Tom Show.

He just went to the web site and signed up (once we presume though Shawn in sort of sneaky). They called him Monday morning, told him he had one and then interviewed him on the air. You can listen to the full interview by clicking here.

Jimmy Buffett band member makes his own music.

By EVELYN THEISS
Religion News Service

Pop guitarist and vocalist Peter Mayer was in India long before The Beatles made their famous trip there in 1968.

Of course, his situation was different. Mayer was a child, living in Tamilnadu because his parents were Lutheran missionaries.

Today, any self-respecting Parrothead, as devout Jimmy Buffett fans are known, can tell you that Mayer is the lead guitarist of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. He's been playing and touring with Buffett for 17 years.

But memories of his childhood in India's far southern region, and his parents' work there, are two things that infuse Mayer's second career as an artist in his own right. He puts out CDs with a spiritual bent, and his latest is "Musicbox."

"Growing up in India stirred something in my soul that even now, in my 40s, makes me never want to be too far away from passing on the gifts I was given," Mayer says.

Mayer was born in India, one of eight children raised by Jim and Selma "Sammy" Mayer.

"By Indian standards, we were pretty wealthy," says Mayer, on a 14-city tour for the holiday season. "We were able to hire Indian helpers for around the house, so our life was comfortable.

"But it was poignant, because around us was such poverty. It was such a gorgeous country, with beautiful people, but we were face to face with the cold realities of people not having even the basic medical care they needed."

Mayer's parents found an old piano that Jim would play. There were always classical records on the turntable, and lots of music at church, some of it infused with the Indian tradition of flutes and drums, shakers and bells.

When Mayer was 8 in 1965, his family moved back to its hometown of St. Louis. The 1960s music scene was in full bloom. "The Beatles, Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix -- it was just an incredible time to grow up," Mayer says.

He began buying albums and learned to play the clarinet; his parents bought him a $50 Suzuki guitar, and he taught himself to play. The first song he learned was Paul McCartney's "Blackbird."

Mayer's younger brother Jim played bass. Soon, both were forming pop groups and playing throughout their years at Lutheran High School South in St. Louis.

Eventually, Peter joined with Jim and a drummer named Roger Guth and headed to Los Angeles. They signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1987. The name of their group was PM, and their first album was produced by Elliot Scheiner, who had worked with Aretha Franklin and Steely Dan. PM's first single, "Piece of Paradise," got up to No. 8 on the Billboard charts.

They began opening for acts such as Chicago and the Moody Blues. "We had a great time for six months, a year, but when it came time for a second single, we tanked," he says. "Then we heard from Elliott that Jimmy Buffett was looking for a band."

Mayer, familiar with "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise," was not initially smitten. "But then we thought, what the heck, it's going to be fun," he says. "We headed to Key West and then on to summer tours."

Some misgivings remained. "I was looking at it as a temporary thing," Mayer says. "I was trying to leave, yet every year, the tour would roll around again."

In 1995, Mayer had a change of heart. "Something hit me," he says. "I realized, we play in front of a million people each summer, we write and perform, and I decided to embrace it.

"I discovered that sometimes the things you think are stumbling blocks are steppingstones."

In months off from touring, Mayer decided to make his own music, recorded under the Peter Mayer Group -- with his brother Jim and Guth, both of whom also play for Buffett. Their first release was a pop album called "Green Eyed Radio."

"We got in a van and toured in a small-potatoes way, and little by little our fan base grew," he says.

In the meantime, Mayer and his wife, Patricia O'Reilly, were raising two children in St. Louis -- Brendan, now 16, and India, 13. When Jim Mayer and Roger Guth decided to move to Nashville, Tenn., from St. Louis in 1999, the Mayers moved, too. They became members of a Lutheran church there. The pastor, knowing Mayer's musical talent, asked him to write some songs.

"The language of church and faith came naturally to me -- this was music my mother had sung to me when I was a child," he says.

Mayer says the songs he writes deal with the relationship of faith and its struggles and joys, rather than one religious way.

The spirituality that permeates his life, says Mayer, is the result of a relationship with God that took a turn when he was 14. A friend of his got involved with a charismatic expression of religion, then questioned Mayer as to whether he had really been "saved."

"It raised all these doubts with me," Mayer says. "I told my mom I was really worried, because I didn't know if I was saved.

"And she told me something that changed my life. She said, `You are in the arms of a loving God who will never let you go.' And that relief was like cool water to me.

On December 5, 2005, XM Radio announced winners of the 2005 XM Nation Awards. Children¹s music artist Jim Mayer, "Uncle Jim," rocked into first place with 63% of the votes for Best New XM Kids Artist. Artists were nominated by XM's programming staff then voted top choice by listeners.

This marks the third award for Mayer's Children's CD, "Uncle Jim, Funky As A Diaper." In 2004, the CD received an iParenting Media Award for Hot Product and a Children¹s Music Web "Best Song" Award. In rotation for 36 weeks, "Funky As A Diaper" (the single) reached #1 on XMKids' Weekly Report Card twice this past year.

To sample some of "Uncle Jim's" music, please visit http://www.UncleJimRocks.com.

From the Internet News Files...

FARMINGTON, Conn., Nov. 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- If you're a Parrot Head you already know who you are. However, if you're like most people, you don't have a clue of what a Parrot Head is. Parrot Heads are avid Jimmy Buffett fans that will travel almost anywhere to attend his concert, and to attend regional or national Parrot Head conventions. It may sound like its all fun and parties, but that's only part of being a Parrot Head. The uniqueness of this fan club is that true Parrot Heads work on community service projects and do fund raising for nonprofit organizations. They do this in order to earn points to purchase concert tickets and to help better their communities in Buffett's name. The usual comment heard is that, "I joined a club for the ticket opportunity, but stayed on because I became aware of how much fun it is to give back to the community and how much I've enjoyed the comradelier of my fellow Parrot Heads." They clean up beaches, take part in Special Olympics events, give blood, collect and distribute clothing to the homeless, raise money to save lighthouses, and other projects too numerous to list.

There are over 200 Parrot Head clubs across the country and thousands of members. One such club, "Club Finz" out of Southern Maine and Coastal New Hampshire, decided to do a fundraiser around their passion and raise money for the National Cancer Awareness Foundation. Taking 35 of the Jimmy Buffett album covers, members Deb Griffin and Louise Basnett designed a quilt featuring the covers with the traditional tropical material for background. The all cotton quilt even has black and pink flamingos on the backside and measures 64" by 84". Members are selling raffle tickets with all the proceeds going to help needy families that are in a financial bind due to cancer.

Since the quilt is so unique and only one person will win it, the club is printing up free posters of the quilt that will be sent to anyone who buys or sells $100.00 worth of tickets. Drawing of the quilt will take place at the New England Parrot Head convention on March 26, 2006.

All the proceeds of the raffle tickets will be donated to the National Cancer Awareness Foundation. Its mission is to generate cancer awareness and raise funds in order to provide financial aid to cancer patients and their families in times of personal crisis. The interesting twist is that the foundation prides itself in the fact that 100% of monies raised goes right back out to families in need. All individuals involved in the foundation are volunteers, and even items such as postage, phone, supplies, printing and miscellaneous day-to-day items are supplied by private funds and or corporate supporters. When an individual makes a donation or simply just buys a raffle ticket, they can be assured that 100% of the monies will be used for the cause.

Additional information on obtaining raffle tickets for the Parrot Head quilt can be obtained at: www.clubfinz.com/convention/quilt.html

CONTACT: National Cancer Awareness Foundation

Louise Basnett

(603) 225-3907

Distributed by the Associated Press

I've been asked by the national PHiP leaders to place this survey of sorts onto our web site. This program is called "In The Shelter" and is nation wide. If you think that this is something you could do / would like to do, please copy, paste, print, and complete this form and give it to one of the DPH club leaders at our next function. These forms need to be in to the national PHiP office by Oct. 28 so that this list can be completed at the MOtM in Key West. Thanks.

In light of the recent spate of natural disasters, PHiP, in conjunction with the Regional Communicators, has decided to compile a listing of Parrot Heads who might be willing to offer temporary shelter to fellow Parrot Heads in need of emergency refuge due to a natural disaster, be it a hurricane, tornado, forest fire, flood, etc.
If you would like to be listed as a temporary safe haven for a PHiP Parrot Head couple or family in need during any time of evacuation or disaster, please fill out the following questions & return to your Club Leader:

1. Name:

2. Email address:

3. Phone Number:

4. Mobile Number:

5. City & State:

6. How many people can you house comfortably?

7. Do you have any pets (for those who may have allergies)?___________

8. Are you willing to accept pets?
Dogs only ?________
Cats Only?_________
Both?_________
Other?_________

9. Are children acceptable in your household as guests?

10. General information regarding your homes location [examples: Near Interstate 65; Indianapolis area - north; right downtown; close to campus; etc.]: