This One’s for the Fans

This weekend was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This epic event is an annual tribute to music and one hell of a party. Musicians from all genres celebrate the great ones and play together. It’s a show for the fans. It’s a show for the artists. It’s a crazy fun show.

The Class of 2024 was epic (and led to a five-hour ceremony on Disney+!):

• Norman Whitfield
• John Mayall
• Alexis Korner
• Jimmy Buffett
• Suzanne De Passe
• MC5
• Big Mamma Thorton
• Dionne Warwick
• A Tribe Called Quest
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Kool & the Gang
• Peter Frampton
• Foreigner
• Dave Mathews Band
• Cher
• Mary J. Blige

I mean, come on! While the entire class is worth honoring, including the amazing artists I didn’t know about, like Alexis Korner and MC5, today’s newsletter is about Jimmy Buffett.

Jimmy Buffett released over 30 albums and toured every year from 1976 until he passed away in September 2023. Despite his fifty-year career, Jimmy Buffett never won a significant award. He was nominated for two Grammys, but it wasn’t until this weekend’s Rock Hall induction that he finally got the due he deserved. But, as was shared in the show and as has been a staple of Buffett’s career, Buffett never played for awards. He played for the fun and for the fans.

I was introduced to Buffett’s music in high school and attended many shows over the years, including an epic night right next to the stage in Jacksonville. It was always a production that started in the parking lot hours before the concert doors opened.

The Parrotheads would flock, wearing their finest beach bum regalia, creating mini beaches in the parking lot, and turning a mundane Tuesday into a vacation. We were called to the celebration, led by Buffett and the legendary Coral Reefer Band.

Buffett typically performed a 2+ hour musical party with over a dozen musicians, dancers, and artists. Beach balls and other inflatable people would bounce through the audience deep into the night. The atmosphere was hazy and happy, driven by the poetry Buffett penned.

Jimmy Buffett lived his life to the fullest, propelled by his music. He created art that he enjoyed and that fueled his fans. Buffett didn’t play to an algorithm or what the executives wanted him to make. Jimmy Buffett’s art was uniquely his own. But music wasn’t his only creative outlet.

In what should shock no one who listens to his lyrics, Buffett was a damn fine writer. He was a storyteller in the likes of Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway, able to perfectly weave a captivating tale. He was a novelist, a memoirist, and (when you count his lyrics) a true poet.

Jimmy Buffett proves that artists should follow their passions. While none of us can aspire to become one of the best-selling artists of all time, we should all aspire to be true to ourselves. Our work may not be for everyone, but it will likely always find its audience.

I was recently interviewed for an upcoming podcast where the host asked me about my writing stats. I explained that the numbers don’t really mean much to me. It’s easy to get lost in them and start changing your art as a result. I can’t operate that way, so I largely ignore all of the stats.

While I know I have over 100k followers on Medium and roughly 10k newsletter subscribers, I don’t look at how individual articles do or the earnings per piece. Instead, I value the interactions my writing creates. Those large numbers, while exciting, aren’t as important to me as the folks who will hit reply and interact with this newsletter. That’s what I enjoy and what I value.

Whether I subconsciously learned this by growing up admiring Jimmy Buffett’s style or not, I’ll never really know. But I do know creating not for recognition but for joy is a lot more fun.

Fins up!