Article by Joshua John  @joshxjohn

The heat beat down on the town of Plymouth, MI Tuesday night as Peter and Brendan Mayer jump started the Great Lakes portion of their early summer tour. The father and son duo treated eager fans to a variety of songs that pulled from all corners of their careers in an evening that had fans leaving with a smile on their faces and gratitude in their hearts.

The Inn at St Johns is home to a sprawling campus that hosts weddings, events, and concerts alike. It stands complete with a church, restaurants, bars, a full golf course, and hotel on the property. Pulling into the parking lot I was happy to see some folks enjoying the sunshine and tailgating. The lush grounds, warm weather, and the outdoor courtyard setting made for a perfect evening for some music.

Peter and Brendan emerged right at the scheduled start time and kicked off the night with, "Long Story Short," a nice warm up tune to settle in with father and son both stretching out a few guitar runs on the laid back groove. Next up came, "In the Meantime," a song that Peter introduced as being written for his daughter as she inevitably got, "older and grew to be smarter than him," getting a chuckle out of the crowd. The crowd was an attentive group clad in everything from dresses and golf polos to tie dye and Margaritaville T-shirts as they hung on every word and note that came from Brendan and Peter.

Just as, "In the Meantime," faded out the familiar notes of, "Here Comes the Sun,” danced through the air. A perfect and very fitting tune given the weather, Brendan gave a seemingly knowing smile as he and Peter picked through the Beatles number. By the end the entire crowd was singing right along with the performers.

Next up was the Peter original, "India." I guessed that a "Teach Your Children" segue might follow based on the version from Peter’s 1999 album, Spare Tire Orchestra. Peter took lead vocals on a gorgeous rendition of the tune before surprising us by dipping into not a Crosby, Stills and Nash song, but instead a welcome venture into Simon and Garfunkel's, "The Boxer."

Brendan then stepped to the mic and introduced, "On the Run," a traveling, soul searching anthem from Floating Collective, one of the outfits Brendan plays in made up of himself and fellow Coral Reefer offspring Erin McAnally (daughter of guitarist Mac McAnally) and Mick Utley (son of keyboardist Michael Utley). With Brendan handling vocals, Peter was able to work freely up and down the fretboard, putting on full display his musical chops and backing up Brendan on vocals.

Next up came, "Chain of Love," a personal favorite of mine. The infectious guitar lick that kicks off the song saw some folks dancing in their seats and the duo quickly digging deep into the groove of the song. Peter and Brendan took great care in building out an extended jam, with Peter laying down some happy, bouncy notes before Brendan jumping in with his own solo riffs on electric guitar. They finally brought the tune back around to song proper with the pleading yet triumphantly phrased line, "Set me free, but don't let me go."

"Midnight Coffee" was next taken out for a spin much to my delight. This song was penned by Jammy Buffet frontman/singer-songwriter Bob Barrick and was recorded with Brendan as a collab, and features catchy phrasing and clever hooks. Peter manned the bulk of the guitar work as Brendan sang about sipping coffee with some blue collar company in a highway diner. Peter, Brendan, and Barrick recently completed a string of shows out west this past spring, as well as an all-star collaboration show featuring Jammy Buffet and Coral Reefer legends in Nashville back in April. Brendan will soon join the Jammy crew as they embark on a Northeast run of shows on their Six Holes in My Freezer Tour, which kicks off next month in July.

We then got our first form of a Jimmy Buffett adjacent tune with, “Everybody’s Talkin.” Originally written by Harry Nilsson, this song was often covered by Jimmy and company. The refreshing number seemed to welcome a slight breeze that cooled off the evening just a bit, with the weather suiting everyone’s clothes just fine. Peter and Brendan played off each other beautifully, and looked to be having just as much, if not more, fun than everyone else in the venue.

A four pack of Buffett came next. This grouping was made up of “Barefoot Children In The Rain,” “Tin Cup Chalice,” a nicely segued “Son Of A Son Of A Sailor,” and a, “The Night I Painted The Sky,” finisher. One can tell how near and dear these songs are to both Peter and Brendan, with Peter joking that while Jimmy may have had a beach bum persona, he was an incredibly hard worker.

The highlight jam section of the night was featured within, “The Last Island.” Both guitarists worked the song into an extended jam, with father and son turning towards each other and playing off each other's ideas for a bit, finding pockets of flash where they could. Brendan finally laid down some rhythm guitar work as a foundation as Peter went into the lab. He put on his best guitar face and nodded along as he worked the song into a feverish pitch, all the while working in some shouts, lyrics, and even drumming on his guitar before finally landing back into the song proper. After the song Brendan exclaimed, “My dad, on the guitar!”

“La Casa Caya Hueso” was a welcome cooldown next, taking us through the wandering streets of Key West in our minds. It was followed by another Floating Collective tune by the title of “In Between.” Sung by Erin McAnally on the studio version, Brendan handled vocals again in his trademark tone. For anyone looking to take a dive into Floating Collective, this groovy number is a phenomenal starting point.

Not to let the energy wane too much, Peter made a playful note about how he wrote the next song with fellow Coral Reefer Roger Guth, who initially kept it away from Buffett because Guth wanted to cut the song before Buffett was able to get a hold of it. Jokingly, Mayer noted that Jimmy got wind of it anyway and ended up cutting the song after the fact. The twosome then launched into the ever playful and popular, “Blue Guitar,” which was met with cheers from the crowd.

The deep cuts did not end there. Noting how much Buffett enjoyed travel and writer Mark Twain, they then tucked into, “That’s What Livin’ Is To Me.” This was my first time ever hearing this song live, and what a treat it was, with the Mayers doing the tender tune justice.

Rounding things off for the night, the closer picked was, “Faith in Angels.” Peter sent the crowd off with a positive message of just how important it was to still be kind with everything going on in the world today, and to do something nice for someone you may not even like. The entire crowd sang along as Brendan and Peter played, briefly dipping into the Beatles’s, “All You Need Is Love,” before an Angels reprise.

Something that shone through the entire evening was the humility and graciousness that Peter and Brendan played with and conveyed to the crowd. These two have rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the music business and have played some of the largest stadiums in the country, and could not have looked happier than to be father and son sharing a stage and getting a chance to play some songs together. They stuck around at the merch table after the show and took the time to meet and speak with each and every fan, signing merchandise and obliging for all photo opportunities.

On top of driving up from Nashville, playing a show in the heat, and giving time to their fans, the two were even gracious enough to give me some time to pester them with some questions after everyone had cleared out.

We sat and talked about playing in Michigan, with them remarking how nice the venue of St. Johns was and Peter citing many years of shows at the well-known Michigan shed of Pine Knob. Brendan reminisced on playing Comerica Park with Jimmy and the Coral Reefers back in 2014 with John Fogerty opening, and just how special that was.

Brendan noted, “One thing I remember from that year was actually that Jimmy ended up taking a golf club to the fire alarm at the hotel. The fire alarm kept going off like every hour and Jimmy finally had enough and smashed it with a golf club. The fire department ended up showing up thinking that someone was tampering with the alarm, but cooled down fairly quickly once they realized it was Jimmy Buffett.”

Talking about some highlights from their year of touring so far, the show with Jammy Buffet in Nashville was one that immediately stood out for both of them. Brendan stated, “It was really fun because my dad got up, my uncle Jim (Coral Reefer bassist Jim Mayer) got up and played on, ‘West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown,’ and (former Coral Reefer) guitarist Roger Bartlett was there too. It was really the first time that I got to play with Bob (Barrick) and those guys, and kind of kicked off the next chapter where I will be playing with them all summer.”

Peter then chimed in, “It was great for me too because I didn't quite get the concept at first. Playing with them that night, it all made sense all of a sudden. The crowd got into the dynamic, the ups and downs, the whole jam scene of it. Then, the familiar song that would follow the jam, you get the payoff with the crowd.”

Citing jazz as an influence, Peter mentioned how that influence fit in with playing with the Coral Reefers and Jimmy, fitting his notes into the window of songs where he could as opposed to stretched out jams. Brendan mentioned that Jimmy was definitely a fan of the Grateful Dead, and always worked in some jam related songs, such as throwing in a, “Scarlet Begonias” or “Uncle John’s Band,” in the setlist.

I asked Brendan if he was excited for his upcoming tour in the Northeast with the Jammy Buffet crew. Brendan exclaimed, “Can’t wait. It has been a really cool and unexpected friendship with Bob… this felt like a really natural transition for me to jump in and be a part of this thing he started. They are great guys, all of them, so we are going to hop in a van and tour around the northeast and hopefully see some water and jam out.”

On the other side of the ball, Peter expressed his excitement for the upcoming tour where the Coral Reefers will be opening for the Doobie Brothers starting in August. “Quite an unusually titled tour,” says Peter with a laugh, “Coral Reefers and Doobies, you know.”

“It should be really amazing playing before them. It will be a shorter set, but it is going to be an amazing night of music… all of us grew up with the Doobie Brothers, songs like China Grove, Black Water, all of those.”

There is also some new music on the horizon for both musicians. Brendan is looking to get an EP of new songs out in the next few months, with him noting that he is working with Nashville producer Ben Sanders.

“They are songs that I have had lying around for a while now that it just felt like time to dust them off and release them. A little bit of a different, little more funky vibe than I usually do but excited to release those.”

Peter beamed with the look of a proud father and remarked, “Those are some great songs. I am working on one called ‘Songs and Stories From The Twelve Volt Man.’ So, songs I have written with Jimmy, like ones from off of, ‘Barometer Soup.’ But also songs like, ‘Twelve Volt Man,’ ‘That’s What Livin’ Is To Me,’ great songs just to celebrate him. I am kind of doing it my own way starting with guitar and vocal, but then adding in some special guests as well… his songs are so great and it is so fun to visualize and realize them on my own.”

Brendan then went on to say, “I think that is what has been the most rewarding thing about doing all of these shows lately related to Jimmy. The bedrock of songs and the foundation of songwriting he has is so strong, and a lot of people only have a cursory knowledge of him… getting to play these songs is getting people to hear them again and hopefully keeping them alive in some sort of small way.”

We then discussed where their next show was, with them heading up to the iconic northern Michigan town of Mackinac Island, where I implored them to get some famous Mackinac Island fudge. There they will play two nights before heading back down to Middle Bass Island located in Lake Erie, before then lighting out for Indiana.

After I exclaimed that they were certainly road dogs, Brendan stated with a laugh,, “father and son in a van, what could go wrong?”

Perhaps an idea for a new song?

If you have the means, get out and see these two in some form or fashion. The joy, skill, humility, and authenticity they play with is something that has to be witnessed live.

Follow Peter and Brendan on social media in order to keep tabs on where they are playing down the line!