A chance encounter with Jimmy Buffett changed this NJ man's life

Jimmy Maraventano enjoyed listening to Jimmy Buffett’s tropical rock brand of music, but it wasn’t until a chance encounter with the music legend nearly 30 years ago that he became a diehard fan.

The New Jersey musician met Buffett while the “Margaritaville” singer filmed a video at Universal Studios in Florida. Buffett was friendly and talkative and posed for pictures with Maraventano and his family. When he got home, Maraventano bought Buffett's albums and learned to play the Coral Reefer Band's hits on guitar along with his teenaged son.

Soon after, Jimmy and the Parrots, a popular tribute band, was born in New Jersey. The band, fronted by Maraventano, has crossed the country playing to crowds of Parrotheads, as Buffett fans are known.

When Maraventano learned that Buffett died, it felt to him like losing a friend. His son, who also plays in the band, called him with the news.

“We got all choked up,” said Maraventano, of Bloombury in Hunterdon County. “It’s been such an integral part of my life playing Jimmy’s music. My whole life now, hundreds and hundreds of acquaintances and friends, are because of him. It’s the greatest hobby ever.”

Buffett, 76, died at home Friday in Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York, from complications of skin cancer, according to an obituary published on his website. The singer and songwriter, playing with the Coral Reefer Band, enthralled legions of fans with his laid-back music that blended sounds of the Caribbean with rock and country.

His music, awash in the cultures of beaches, boats and bars, made people happy over his more than 50-year career. Buffett also turned his success into a billion-dollar business empire, with restaurants, bars, resorts and merchandise. Atlantic City is home to the Landshark Bar & Grill and a Margaritaville restaurant, both part of Buffett’s business enterprise.

Jimmy and the Parrots thrives on the fandom that its idol inspired. The band plays 80 or 90 shows a year across the U.S., performing Buffett hits and other rock and county covers. They also have albums of original music, including the song and fan love letter, “We Owe it All to Jimmy.”

“It ain’t about the parrots, or the swinging palm trees. It’s about all the great friends that we have come to be,” Maraventano sings in a voice that evoke's Buffett's style of soft rock with a laid-back twang.

Maraventano and his New Jersey band members toasted the legend on Saturday as they played his hits during a gig at a golf club in Reading, Pennsylvania.

“We lost one of the great ones and let’s celebrate him. Let’s have a good time folks,” Maraventano told the crowd.

The band includes his son, Jimmy Maraventano of Bound Brook, and Mark Leimbach of Morganville, who both play lead guitar. Fred Saunders of Scotch Plains plays bass guitar, and Mark Sacco of Hamilton plays drums.

Elsewhere around the Garden State, Parrothead clubs like Phlock of South Jersey were making plans for fan tribute events. Gene Viereck, president of the club, said he's gone to about 15 Jimmy Buffett shows over the years. The club has themed events and charitable efforts and will hold an event honoring their Buffett, he said.

“Our clubs have a motto — ‘party with purpose.’ It’s about having a good time, but you’re doing good for somebody else,” said Viereck, of Blackwood in Camden County.

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Viereck first saw Buffet live more than 20 years ago in Camden and loved the community he found there.

“Just seeing all the partying before the show was probably more impressive than the show itself," he said. "It was a true circus, between everybody dressing up in Parrothead paraphernalia. People had sand beaches in the back of their trucks, shoveling sand into the parking lot. Everyone was friendly and walking around sharing drinks with strangers.”

Viereck goes to the annual club members’ gathering in Key West, where he meets Parrotheads from across the country. With 130 miles of coastline, New Jersey has its share of beach lovers who indulge in songs like “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Come Monday.” But it’s about more than the beach, said Viereck.

“It’s not just a coastal thing,” he said. “It’s more forgetting your day-to-day hardships and getting together with a group of people with common interests.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jimmy Buffett death: These NJ Parrotheads mourn