When Jimmy Buffett died on Sept. 1, 2023, fans along the Gulf Coast looked for ways to honor the musician who grew up in Mobile and turned the region’s beach-bar spirit into a worldwide following. In Fairhope, one of the answers was the Lost Shaker Salute to Jimmy Buffett, a charity concert held Oct. 28, 2023, at American Legion Post 199 to benefit Singing for a Change, Buffett’s charitable foundation.
The tribute came together quickly, sold out twice, and was organized by a small group of local music people who agreed from the start that nobody would make money from it. At the center of that group was Claire Powell, the talent purchaser for the Legion’s concert series, whose path to that job says a lot about how the coastal music scene works.
A Mobile Upbringing and a Love of Live Music
Powell grew up in Mobile and credits her parents, Charles and Kathy Swindle, with instilling a strong work ethic early. Hers was a large, close-knit family; she remembers Thanksgivings with about 80 relatives. Summers were spent on Mobile Bay in a three-room bay house her grandfather built, where she remembers waking to excited shouts of “Jubilee, Jubilee!”
A jubilee is one of Mobile Bay’s best-known natural events: on certain summer nights, usually in the early morning hours, low-oxygen water pushes crabs, flounder and shrimp into the shallows along the Eastern Shore, and residents rush to the water with gigs, nets and buckets. Mobile Bay is one of very few places in the world where the phenomenon occurs regularly, and for children raised along the bay it is a cherished memory.
Her love of music started at home, and in high school she followed the band Phish around the country. She worked as a server at local restaurants and began bartending at 21. Behind the bar, she was exposed to local talent and began paying attention to the people who could spot up-and-coming acts before anyone else.
The Mentors Behind the Scene
Powell is quick to credit others. She pointed to John Thompson, known as JT, of Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile, as someone who brings new talent to the stage before anyone has heard of them. “JT is king or Saint John as we sometimes call him, has one of the best ears for music I’ve ever heard,” she said.
She also named Ben Jernigan, who books music for Fairhope’s Live at Five series. “He is one of my favorites,” she said. “He’s been super supportive and has really given me solid advice over the past season.” The Ben Jernigan Band is also among the acts she likes to book.
At Soul Kitchen in Mobile, where Powell tended bar, she learned from Brad Young and Maggie Smith. That was where she first started paying attention to the inner workings of the local music industry. “Just sitting back and listening to those two talking together is a wealth of information. Maggie is always my go-to for solid and fair advice on a difficult situation,” she said.
She also frequents Cedar Street Social, where musicians of all levels are welcome, calling it a great place to hear music and find new acts. “I like to stay busy,” Powell said. “I’ve fallen in love with music and bartending. The only time my mind is totally clear is when the bar is packed and I can only think about the next order I need to make.”
How Harry Johnson Steered Her to the Legion
In July 2021, Harry Johnson, the veteran Eastern Shore restaurateur, asked Powell to become general manager of Manci’s Antique Club in Daphne. She resisted. “I was bartending, and he kept asking me to become General Manager but I resisted,” she said. After the third request, he asked her to think it over. While cleaning up Manci’s, she discovered how much Johnson had quietly done for the community, and that persuaded her to accept.
“There are a small number of local people in the area that want to do good for no other reason than to do good,” she said. “Harry Johnson is one of those people. He doesn’t seek recognition, he avoids it, he just helps out wherever he sees a need, and does it as quietly as possible.”
When Powell later left Manci’s, Johnson told her about a place that needed a “volume” bartender. “It’s different, Claire, just give it a try,” he said. She went to work at the Tiki Bar at the American Legion, and before long the post’s Executive Committee asked her to become the talent purchaser for its concert series.
Why the Legion Stage Matters
American Legion Post 199 sits on a bluff above Mobile Bay on South Mobile Street in Fairhope, with a beach and some of the best sunset views on the Eastern Shore. The post has long been open to the public as well as to veterans, and its Tiki Bar and waterside stage have made it a popular gathering spot. Its historic building was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sally in 2020, and the post later completed a rebuild; at the time of the tribute, the Tiki Bar and outdoor concerts continued to draw crowds.
Powell said the magic of the venue comes from its beachy feel and especially the sunsets. “It’s like you are watching them from the end of the earth,” she said. “The beautiful thing about the American Legion is you can take on new bands and watch them develop.”
She saw the Legion as part of a family of independent venues, along with Soul Kitchen, Callaghan’s, Cedar Street and Manci’s. “These bars are not commercial, or corporate; patrons go for the love of the music.”
Among the acts she was watching at the time were the Brigham Cason Band (“I really believe they will do well”) and the Red Clay Strays, whom she first heard playing to a small crowd at Soul Kitchen. “Now they are just on this meteoric rise. They played Red Rocks and then returned home to play to the largest crowd Soul Kitchen has ever held. It’s been fascinating to watch that band.”
The economics of a volunteer-run concert series are tight. The Legion held one ticketed event each month in that season, and Powell said that event might, at best, cover the band’s fee for that day. “Other than that all of my music is pretty much completely dependent on the voluntary donations we collect on Sundays and a couple of local companies that sponsor the performances throughout our season,” she said. Among the fall 2023 bookings was Bruce Smelley, whom she described as a ’90s country cover act, on Oct. 15.
Building the Lost Shaker Salute
The tribute’s planning team came together around Powell, Johnson and Mark Calametti of The Wrong Terns, a band Powell discovered at Bill-E’s that had recently played a Sunday afternoon at the Legion. “When you put the right group of us together, things get done rapidly!” she said.
“Jimmy Buffett is a hometown hero,” Powell explained. “Harry had inquiries about doing a tribute at Manci’s. The American Legion had considered doing a three-day event. None of us wanted this to be about making money for ourselves, so we decided to make it a charity event and let Jimmy’s family decide where the money would go.”
The group contacted Buffett’s niece, Mara Buffett, who told them, “If the proceeds are going to Jimmy’s charity, the family would never object.” Singing for a Change, the foundation Buffett established, supports grassroots nonprofits working for social and environmental change. “Singing for a Change is a beautiful charity. It benefits people who are trying to better themselves and better their communities,” Powell said.
For the music, Powell turned to Street Folk, the band led by Dr. Bobby Gregory, which she had heard at Cedar Street Social on a Tuesday night. “He covers a lot of Jimmy Buffett, but not exclusively. His band led the recent parade in Mobile in memory of Jimmy Buffett,” she said. The band donated its time to the cause.
Calametti designed fliers, announcements went out on social media, and Johnson texted the flier to his contacts with a warning: “It will sell out soon!” He was right. The initial 500 tickets sold out in nine days; organizers raised the cap to 600, and those sold out immediately.
The Day of the Tribute
The plan for Oct. 28, 2023, called for gates to open at 3 p.m., with music from 4 to 7 p.m. and a set list heavy on Buffett’s songs. Ticket holders were told to bring folding chairs, coolers were not allowed, the Tiki Bar would be open, and food would carry a nod to cheeseburgers and margaritas. Raffles were planned, and sponsorships were offered at $250 and $500.
- Event: Lost Shaker Salute to Jimmy Buffett
- Date: Oct. 28, 2023
- Venue: American Legion Post 199, Fairhope
- Beneficiary: Singing for a Change
- Music: Street Folk with Dr. Bobby Gregory
For Powell, the event was about the connection nearly everyone on the coast feels to Buffett. “Every person has their connection to Jimmy Buffett,” she said. “He is part of the fabric of our lives along the Gulf Coast. We all have memories of either knowing him, or his music being part of our formative years. We are here to celebrate his life and music. Music is the food for our soul.”
She also recalled the moment that most boosted her confidence, when Johnson told her, “I know there will be a point in time when I’ll be able to say, I had the pleasure of working with Claire Powell.” Her response said as much about Johnson as about herself: “He believed in my abilities before I was aware of them. Harry is best at putting the right person in the right place at the right time.”