Meeting between Famed Musicians Buffett, Taylor to be formally recognized Nov. 21 at The Hub on Hattiesburg Campus

It was at the center of The University of Southern Mississippi's Hattiesburg campus nearly four decades ago that a chance encounter between two musicians led to one of America's great musical collaborations.

The spot where that meeting between Jimmy Buffett and Greg “Fingers” Taylor, who formed the famed “Coral Reefer Band” will be signified with a bronze marker in a ceremony outside “The Hub” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 prior to the USM-Old Dominion football game. The University community and public are invited to attend.

In the early 1970s Buffett, who was then a recent USM graduate and Taylor, a Southern Miss student, met on the steps of the “The Hub,” an historic all-purpose center of student activity at the University. At the time, Buffett was playing on his guitar for some students on break from night class, and Taylor asked if he could join in with his harmonica.

What came from their meeting was a chemistry that produced a musical elixir for those yearning to escape life's troubles to the dreamy, carefree island life captured in some of the band's hit songs, including “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Their music continues to inspire a legion of devoted fans affectionately known as
“Parrotheads.”

Taylor once said in an interview that there was an immediate “bonding” between he and Buffett after they met, and that the two knew they “were going to play music together somewhere down the line.”

“It's only fitting we recognize the legacies of Buffett and Taylor, whose contributions to American popular music are indeed significant. The story of their session at The Hub and what followed is a treasured part of the Southern Miss story,” said University Historian Dr. Chester “Bo” Morgan.

Buffett, who was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity while a student at USM, will be represented at the ceremony by Kappa Sigma President Phillip LeMere; Taylor will be represented at the event by his relative Harrison Cunningham.

“Kappa Sigma Epsilon-Nu is proud to be a part of this event honoring our fraternity brother, Mr. Buffett, as well as Mr. Taylor,” said LeMere, a junior English major from Gulfport, Miss. “Both are justly receiving recognition for their association with Southern Miss and for their lasting impact on popular music.”

Buffett earned a degree in history from Southern Miss in 1969 and performed, both solo and with a band known as “The Upstairs Alliance,” at student hangouts on the Hattiesburg campus and beyond. His career resulted in more than 30 albums (eight gold and nine platinum), multiple honors that include a Grammy nomination, as well as three books that made the New York Times bestseller list in both the fiction and non-fiction categories. Taylor was a member of the Coral Reefer Band from the mid-1970s to 2001, and recorded more than half a dozen albums of his own. Both Buffett and Taylor are inductees in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.

For more information about this event, contact the Southern Miss Office of University Communications at 601.266.4491.