The Coral Reefer Band is the touring

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 and recording band

Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

 of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...

. Originally it was a fictional band consisting of the imaginary members Marvin Gardens, Kay Pasa, Al Vacado and Kitty Litter.

The name "Coral Reefer" alludes to both coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s (in line with Buffett's tropical-themed music) and also "reefer," which is slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 for marijuana

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

. The term is also related to sailing; a sailor who shortens or "reefs" a sail is a reefer.

Current line-up

, the band's line-up consists of:

• Michael Utley
  Michael Utley
  Michael Utley, often credited as Mike Utley, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. He is the musical director of the band...
  
   - keyboards
• Robert Greenidge
  Robert Greenidge
  Robert Greenidge is a steelpan player in the United States and a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini.-Career:...
  
   - steel drums
• Ralph MacDonald
  Ralph MacDonald
  Ralph MacDonald is an American percussionist and song-writer. He joined Harry Belafonte's band at age 17. He wrote the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song "Where is the Love" with songwriting partner William Salter. Probably his best-known composition is the Grover Washington, Jr...
  
   - percussion
• Peter Mayer - guitar, vocals
• Jim Mayer - bass
• Roger Guth - drums
• Mac McAnally
  Mac McAnally
  Lyman Corbitt "Mac" McAnally, Jr. is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs charts...
  
   - guitars, vocals
• Doyle Grisham - pedal steel guitar
  Pedal steel guitar
  The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
  
  
• John Lovell - trumpet
• Tina Gullickson - vocals
• Nadirah Shakoor
  Nadirah Shakoor
  Nadirah Shakoor is an American vocalist, best known for her work in Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, which she joined in 1995, and is still touring with it as the featured female vocalist. "Nod to the Storyteller" is Nadirah's tribute to Jimmy Buffett, who for the last 13 years has featured her...
  
   - vocals
• Eric Darken-Percussion (2011 Temp. replacement for Ralph MacDonald [recovering from illness])

Former members

Other former members of the Coral Reefer Band include:

• Jerry Jeff Walker
  Jerry Jeff Walker
  Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
  
   - Guitar, background vocals, composer
• John Hiatt - Guitar
• Lanny Fiel - Guitar
• Rick Fiel - Bass guitar
• Paul Tabet - Drums
• Bergen White - Trombone
• Bobby Thompson - Banjo
• Doug Bartenfeld - Guitar
• Jay Oliver
  Jay Oliver
  Jay Oliver is an American jazz musician , composer, record producer, programmer & engineer; residing in Los Angeles. He began his professional music career at the age of 19 as the youngest member of Maynard Ferguson’s band...
  
   - Keyboards
• Randy Goodrum
  Randy Goodrum
  Randy Goodrum is an American songwriter. Goodrum has written numerous popular songs, including Anne Murray's #1 hit "You Needed Me" and "Broken Hearted Me" , Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue" , England Dan & John Ford Coley's "It's Sad to Belong" , Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie" , DeBarge's "Who's...
  
   - Keyboards
• Buzz Cason
  Buzz Cason
  Buzz Cason is an American rock singer, songwriter, producer and author....
  
   - Keyboards, background vocals
• Don Kloetzke
  Don Kloetzke
  Don Kloetzke is an American painter with more than thirty years of painting experience. Known for his wildlife art portraits, he has also painted landscapes, still life, World War II aircraft along with emotional Green Bay Packer fan themes....
  
   - Background vocals
• Roger Bartlett - Acoustic guitars
• Michael Jeffry - lead guitar, harmony vocals
• Josh Leo
  Josh Leo
  Josh Leo is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer active in Nashville, Tennessee.Leo was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1973, he moved to Chicago, Illinois and subsequently became a guitarist of the short-lived Eddie Boy Band...
  
   - guitar
• Vince Melamed
  Vince Melamed
  Vince Melamed is an American keyboardist and songwriter who currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He was born in New York, and moved to Los Angeles at an early age. Vince has appeared with many bands as keyboardist...
  
   - keyboards
• Tony Pace - Drums
• Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...
  
   - bass, vocals
• Greg "Fingers" Taylor - harmonica (Taylor is often introduced by Buffett as "The Original Coral Reefer Band" when he sits in now.)
• T.C. Mitchell - saxophones and flute
• Amy Lee - saxophone and writer of the Buffett hit - Fruitcakes
• Mary Harris - Background vocals and vocal arrangements.
• Barry Chance - guitar
• Hadley Hockensmith - Bass
• Claudia Cummings - Background vocals
• Andy McMahon - Organ, Fender Rhodes
• Harry Dailey - Bass, background vocals
• Matt Betton - Drums
• M.L. Benoit - Congas and percussion, background vocals
• David Briggs
  David Briggs (American musician)
  David Briggs is an American keyboardist, record producer, arranger, composer and studio owner....
  
   - Piano
• J.D. Souther - Background vocals
• Dr. Kino Bachellier - Shakers and French
• Freddie Buffett - Background vocals
• Norbert Putnam
  Norbert Putnam
  Norbert Putnam is an American record producer and musician. He grew up near Florence, Alabama and was part of the Muscle Shoals musicians brought to Nashville to play for Elvis Presley in 1965. Putnam worked there as a bassist on recording sessions with Presley, Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, Henry...
  
   - Upright bass
• Dominic Cortese - Accordion
• Deborah McColl - Background vocals
• Reggie Young
  Reggie Young
  Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
  
   - Electric lead guitar
• Ed "Lump" Williams - Bass guitar
• Sammy Creason
  Sammy Creason
  Sammy Creason was an American session drummer who played with Tony Joe White, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan among others....
  
   - Drums
• Phil Royster - Congas
• David Persons - Guitars, Background Vocals
• Johnny Gimble
  Johnny Gimble
  John Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
  
   - Fiddle
• Shane Keester - Moog synthesizer
• Kenny Buttrey
  Kenny Buttrey
  Aaron Kenneth Buttrey was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history"....
  
   - Drums and Percussion
• Vassar Clements
  Vassar Clements
  Vassar Clements was a Grammy Award- winning American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and bluegrass along with roots also in country and other musical...
  
   - Fiddle
• Ferrell Morris - Percussion
• Sam Clayton
  Sam Clayton
  Sam Clayton has been a singer and percussionist, primarily focusing on drums; conga and djembe, throughout his musical career. He is best known for his membership as percussionist and supporting vocalist with the American rock band Little Feat since 1972....
  
   - Congas and Percussion
• Larry Lee
  Larry Lee
  Lawrence H. "Larry" Lee, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee, best known for his work with Al Green and Jimi Hendrix.-Gypsy Sun and Rainbows:...
  
   - Guitar, Drums, Keyboards
• Tim Krekel
  Tim Krekel
  Tim Krekel was an American rock musician and country music songwriter from Louisville, Kentucky.- Early life :...
  
   - Guitar, Background Vocals
• Bree Howard - Percussion, Vocals
• Russ Kunkel
  Russ Kunkel
  Russell Kunkel , also known as Russ Kunkel, is an American drummer and producer who has worked as a session musician with a number of well-known artists.Kunkel was born in Pittsburgh, PA...
  
   - Drums
• Keith Sykes - Guitar

Honorary members and special guests

Many artists have recorded and/or appeared on stage with Buffett, earning them status as honorary Coral Reefers.http://www.buffettnews.com/coralreeferband.html Some of the more notable names are listed here.

• Paul McCartney
  Paul McCartney
  Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
  
  - vocals
• Clint Black
  Clint Black
  Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...
  
   - harmonica
• Ed Bradley
  Ed Bradley
  Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
  
   - tambourine
• Rita Coolidge
  Rita Coolidge
  Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
  
   - vocals
• Sheryl Crow
  Sheryl Crow
  Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
  
   - vocals
• Harrison Ford
  Harrison Ford
  Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
  
   - whip cracks
• Glenn Frey
  Glenn Frey
  Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
  
   - guitar, background vocals
• Steve Goodman
  Steve Goodman
  Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
  
   - guitar
• Alan Jackson
  Alan Jackson
  Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
  
   - vocals
• Earl Klugh
  Earl Klugh
  Earl Klugh is an American smooth jazz/crossover jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer.At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when Atkins made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. Klugh was a performing guest on several of Atkins' albums...
  
   - guitar
• Nicolette Larsen - vocals
• Roy Orbison
  Roy Orbison
  Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
  
   - vocals
• Bill Payne
  Bill Payne
  Bill Payne is a founding member of American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other piano rock musicians, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues music artists...
  
   - Keyboard
• Sonny Landreth
  Sonny Landreth
  Sonny Landreth is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana...
  
   - slide guitar
• Freedie Buffett - background vocals
• Ilo Ferreira - vocals, guitar
• Jake Shimabukuro
  Jake Shimabukuro
  Jake Shimabukuro is an ukulele virtuoso known for his complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz and rock.- History :...
  
   - Ukalele
• Zac Brown - guitar and vocals