Gulf and western (music genre)

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For the American conglomerate, see Gulf+Western.

Gulf and western is a term used to describe the music genre of American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and other similar sounding performers. The name derives from elements in Buffett's early music including musical influence from country and western and lyrical themes from the Gulf of Mexico coast. A critic described Buffett's music as a combination of "tropical languor with country funkiness into what some [have] called the Key West sound, or Gulf-and-western."[1]

Other performers identified as gulf and western are often deliberately derivative of Buffett's musical style and some are tribute bands or, in the case of Greg "Fingers" Taylor, a former member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.[2] They can be heard on Buffett's online Radio Margaritaville and on the compilation album series Thongs in the Key of Life.

[edit] Other gulf and western performers

  • Brent Burns
  • Hanna's Reef
  • Rum Punch Bandits
  • Kenny Chesney
  • Bill Jabanoski
  • Don Middlebrook and Living Soul / Living Soul and the Pearl Divers
  • Jim Morris
  • Kevin Mulvenna
  • Eric Stone
  • Greg "Fingers" Taylor

[edit] References

  1. ^ *Harrington, Richard. "Jimmy Buffett: Oh, the Stories He Can Tell." Washington Post 17 December 1989, G1. Cited in Dawn S. Bowen. "Lookin' for Margaritaville: Place and Imagination in Jimmy Buffett's Songs." Journal of Cultural Geography. Spring/Summer 1997. Vol. 16, Issue 2. p99. Accessed on 10 April 2007.
  2. ^ Jim Morris website
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