Jimmy Buffett grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and the city is now the permanent home of his archive. The National Maritime Museum of the Gulf opens the Jimmy Buffett: Son of a Son of a Sailor Experience on September 12, a 6,000-square-foot installation that SPIN reported goes well past what a museum exhibit usually does.
More than 130 artifacts are in it, many of them never publicly displayed. The list SPIN gave includes his 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame statue, the 12-string Martin guitar he used to write and perform "Son of a Son of a Sailor", handwritten lyrics, personal photographs and concert and recording footage that has never been released. Karen Poth, the museum's executive director, calls it a "living exhibit", one she expects to keep changing as new stories and artifacts turn up.
The space also recreates Shrimp Boat Sound, his recording studio in Key West, and carries interviews with family members, bandmates, crew, friends, fishing buddies, boat builders, producers, authors and business associates. According to the museum, the aim is to tell the story of a sailor, pilot, author, entrepreneur and storyteller rather than a musician alone.
Mobile is not an arbitrary choice. Buffett's family had deep ties to the maritime industry in the city, and the museum stands on the waterfront across the Mobile River from the area where his parents worked at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co. The institution already holds artifacts connected to his grandfather's maritime history.
Opening weekend starts the night before. On September 11 the museum holds Margaritas and Memories at Mobile's Saenger Theater, with the longtime Coral Reefer band members Mac McAnally and Scotty Emerick playing; the next day brings the grand opening, the unveiling of a larger-than-life bronze sculpture, live music and a nautical-themed mural festival at Cooper Riverside Park. The weekend falls roughly on the third anniversary of Buffett's death from cancer at 76.
The exhibit is one of several fixed memorials to musicians the site has covered, alongside a historic Nashville park bench dedicated to Dolly Parton and the argument over a Miami stadium where Buffett once played. It files with the site's country coverage.
The players who stood behind him get their own account before long. Occupational Hazard, a documentary narrated by Jeff Bridges, follows the Coral Reefer band and the musicians who shaped Buffett's sound over several decades.
The facts
- The exhibit opens September 12 at the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf.
- It runs to 6,000 square feet and is permanent.
- More than 130 artifacts are included, many never publicly displayed.
- Buffett's 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame statue is on show.
- So is the 12-string Martin used to write Son of a Son of a Sailor.
- The exhibit recreates Shrimp Boat Sound, his Key West studio.
- Opening weekend begins September 11 at Mobile's Saenger Theater.
- A bronze Buffett sculpture is unveiled at Cooper Riverside Park.
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