“His Music Still Lives On”: Niko Moon Pays Touching Tribute to Jimmy Buffett and Shares Inspiration Behind His ‘Margaritaville’ Cover

During his conversation with Holler around his brand new album, AMERICAN PALM, Niko Moon has paid a moving homage to one of his biggest musical heroes, Jimmy Buffett.

Niko has made it a tradition to include a cover on every album, with the ‘BOAT SONG’ crooner tipping his cap to Travis Tritt's ‘IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE’ and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's ‘FISHIN’ IN THE DARK’ on his first and second albums respectively.

On AMERICAN PALM, which finds him doubling-down on his positive, joyful brand of music with a beach-side, island-inspired project, Niko Moon covers Jimmy Buffett's legendary hit, ‘Margaritaville’. The track has exploded into far more than a mere song, with Margaritaville blossoming into an emblem for Jimmy's sun-chasing outlook on life, as well as becoming a feel-good, tropically-minded brand encompassing clothing, hotels, retirement villages, drinks and much more.

Given how integral ‘Margaritaville’ has become to the late great trailblazer's legacy, Niko Moon could be forgiven for feeling some pressure when recording his take on the track.

“Self-pressure, that is”, Niko candidly explains, “I tend to do that with myself in all areas of my life. I'm really into Stoic philosophy, and one of the key tenets of it is be hard on yourself, but easy on others. And it's something I try my best to do. I'm only so hard on myself because I deeply just want to get the most out of life, you know?”

He expands, “So with this song, especially with Jimmy being such a big influence on me - one of my pillars of inspiration, you might say - and not wanting to let down Parrotheads and all the people that I felt that kindredness with...I just hope the people that truly do love Jimmy Buffett feel that, with this rendition of it, I stayed true to Jimmy and his spirit, while still doing my own thing with it”.

The fact that the ‘GOOD TIME’ hitmaker was so conscious of not disappointing Jimmy Buffett's's loyal Parrothead fanbase shows just how much his music means to him. As a result, Niko is undoubtedly a worthy artist to pay tribute to Jimmy in this way.

He admits, “I was worried they'd think I was cliche for doing ‘Margaritaville’, and not doing something a little ‘cooler’ or a deeper cut. But at the end of the day, you can't make decisions based on what other people think, and you just gotta go with your gut”.

Niko stresses, “It has to come from a pure place of just having fun with music, and trying to make the best music you can. Just focus on trying to make the best music you can that is aligned with your message - so for me, that's the message of positivity and optimism, the beauty and power of that and the celebration of life...And so, for me, I just felt deeply that this is the song that had the biggest impact on my life and on the world. So why would I try to be Mr. Cool Pants and do some super deep cut, when the whole purpose is about human connection?”

Even so, Niko Moon makes it clear that, on a personal level, there are countless Jimmy Buffett odes to living in 3/4 time and changing your attitude by changing your latitude that have struck a chord with him. For instance, Niko - who is 42 - recalls how different ‘A Pirate Looks at Forty’ sounded when listening to it after his 40th birthday.

He proceeds to toast how, despite the sadness that was felt and continues to be felt among Parrotheads following Jimmy Buffett's passing in 2023, his music and the jubilant, glass-half-full spirit he laced into every single album will never truly die.

“His music still lives on”, the man behind country hits such as Morgan Wallen's ‘More Than My Hometown’ and Zac Brown Band's ‘Homegrown’ underlines, “And it's just as powerful now as it was when he was alive. It's another really amazing thing about music - it lives beyond us. That's maybe another thing that has drawn me to it”.

One element that sets Jimmy Buffett's music apart from other carefree, daiquiri-soaked discographies, is the fact that it is not mere escapism. Rather, it is a way of life, and a sustainable, perspective-shifting antidote to the mental strains and pressures that us Parrotheads are perhaps a little more sensitive to than others. It's a quality that also permeates the music of Kenny Chesney, another of Jimmy's disciples, and one that feels distinctly pertinent to Niko Moon's mission.

“My life is anything but chill”, Niko Moon - who also runs the mental health organisation, The Happy Cowboy Foundation, along with the Happy Himalayan water brand and soon-to-be-unveiled American Palm clothing company - outlines, “I'm not eternally posted up with my toes in the sand and a margarita in my hand. I think that's why I've loved it so much and that I find it so important, because life is so busy, and we need those moments. I need those moments”.

He touches on the key impetus behind both Jimmy Buffett's Parrothead movement and Kenny Chesney's No Shoes Nation fanbase, “It's not about literally being at the beach 24/7 and having your butt in the fold-out chair and your feet in the water. It's the mentality. It's the mental vacation. That's what it's all about”.

Niko concludes, “No matter where we are in our life, we can still connect to the mentality of taking a little vacay. It doesn't always have to be literal - it's meant to be metaphorical. It's meant to be mental. I spend 90% of my time not at the water...and I love touring, and I love being in all the different places that I am. I feel such a peace, and I feel my heart when I'm at the water, and so that's why I love singing about it. But I can go there anytime. I don't have to literally be there. That's the beauty of music. That's the beauty of Jimmy Buffett - he took me to paradise when I needed it, when I needed to be reminded that every little thing was going to be alright. And I'm doing my best to pay it forward with my music, to hopefully take people on that getaway when they need it. Sometimes it's just for five minutes, and sometimes it's the entire album. Sometimes it's a live show, and then sometimes it's literally flying down to the beach, and getting those toes in the sand and putting that mental into reality, which is a beautiful thing to do”.

AMERICAN PALM has this summery spirit of joie-de-vivre imbued into its DNA, with Niko Moon crafting a joyful, uplifting means of escaping our everyday worries and heading on a headphone holiday - even if it's just for the space of one three-minute song.

While some more traditional-leaning Parrotheads might not approve of the introduction of trap-leaning beats into ‘Margaritaville’, as Niko Moon muses during our conversation, this is simply his way of putting his own, lime-infused twist on the track.

Because of this, it becomes both a tribute to the deep-seated way in which Jimmy Buffett has impacted his life and his music, as well as a demonstration of how he is putting his own stamp on this sunny, positivity-fuelled message and tailoring it to younger generations. The hope is that listeners who prefer the genre-blurring instrumentation of modern country music can still embark on a mental vacation through AMERICAN PALM and Niko's wider catalogue of life-affirming anthems, even if they're not as familiar with Buffett's own repertoire. This album embodies Jimmy's mantra of always taking the weather with you. After listening to AMERICAN PALM and Niko's take on ‘Margaritaville’, we can feel the wintry storm-clouds dispersing as the warm, soothing sun breaks through.

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