Downtown Laurel, Mississippi’s Central Avenue becomes Parrothead Central on Saturday, May 30 as The Reserve and Landshark Lager hosts the “Nod to the Storyteller” concert.

The concert is a tribute to the music of Mississippi native Jimmy Buffett featuring Buffett’s Coral Reefer band members Nadirah Shakoor, Michael Utley, and Doyle Grisham.

Also featured will be Jimmy’s friends, The Juke Joint Duo – Cedric Burnside and Lightin’ Malcolm plus steel drum sensation John Patti along with James Ducker and Lowery Hicks.

Known as the “keeper of the summer”, the Coral Reefer band has been a major aspect of music history being part of 40 years of the Jimmy Buffett sound.

Nadirah has been the backup singer for Jimmy since 1995.  Before that, she was the lead singer in the group “Arrested Development” and was nominated for a Grammy.  And before that? 

She backed up Janet Jackson on her tours.  She has released her new album, “Nod to the Storyteller” which is her tribute to Jimmy.  An incredible entertainer in her own right, Nadirah helps shape the Coral Reefer band into one of the most powerful sounds in music today.

Michael Utley is the longtime musical director of the Coral Reefer band.  In fact, he has co-produced eight albums for Buffett. 

As the keyboard player for Jimmy for over 30 years, he has co-written several Buffett classics with Jimmy.

Mike was influenced heavily by the sounds of Memphis soul and New Orleans rhythm and blues as a young man and today, you can still here those sounds in his playing.

Doyle Grisham is no stranger to The Reserve or Laurel.  He has played over a dozen shows in Laurel in the past 10 years and looks forward to returning. 

Doyle first met Jimmy in the early 70’s during a session of Tompall and the Glaser Brothers doing one of Jimmy’s songs, “Tin Cup Chalice”.  Afterwards, Jimmy asked him to play on his upcoming album and Doyle readily agreed.  Their first tuned was “Great Filling Station Holdup”. 

Thirty albums later and a decade of national and world tours, Doyle is the consummate pedal steel guitar player of the Coral Reefer Band.

The Juke Joint Duo played three shows last year with Jimmy in Chicago and the Midwest, playing to over 75,000 fans.  Jimmy invited them back this year to go into the studio with him for a session. 

The duo is comprised of Cedric Burnside, grandson of famed R. L. Burnside, and Lightin’ Malcolm.  These Mississippi delta musicians are nothing short of astounding.

Combine that talent with steel drummer John Patti, guitarist and vocalist James Ducker and bass player Lowery Hicks and you have a night of sensational Jimmy Buffett music.