Caroline Jones honored late music legend Jimmy Buffett during her headlining tour kickoff on Tuesday night (February 17) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jones, 35, was a rare opening act for Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band on tour in 2018. The solo artist and first female member of Zac Brown Band (joined in 2022) remembered Buffett as “everything that he seemed to be and more.” He approached Jones about halfway through the tour to let her know he was writing a song for her, which was “a pretty surreal thing.” Jones released the tropical, beach-worthy single, “Gulf Coast Girl,” in summer 2019 with backing vocals by The Pelicanaires. The powerhouse group included Lukas Nelson, Kenny Chesney, Buffett and co-writer and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally. Jones said on stage in Nashville:

“He was notorious for not having openers, but I was very, very lucky to be one of his few openers for about a year and a half. And he was everything that he seemed to be and more, honestly. He was one of the most enigmatic, creative, absolutely brilliantly smart people that I’ve ever met. And I have so many great memories of that time and of that tour, and as I go on in life, being older, being a mom, there’s so many things I wish I could talk to him about now. (There are) so many stories I wish I could ask him about now. But he came to me about halfway through the year, the tour, and he said, ‘I’m writing a song for you.’ That’s a pretty surreal thing for you to hear from Jimmy Buffett. And he said it’s called ‘Gulf Coast Girl,’ and it’s about all the towns along the gulf coast. I’ll never forget him taking me through the lyrics, through anecdotes from his life about every single town that’s in this song. He was such a deep writer and so brilliant, and I really miss him, so we’re going to pay homage to him now. This is for Jimmy.”

Jones led a sing-along rendition of “Gulf Coast Girl” in honor of Buffett, who died on September 1, 2023 after a battle with Merkel cell carcinoma, a skin cancer. He was 76. Jones previously paid tribute to Buffett with her bandmates in Zac Brown Band. The group released “Pirates & Parrots,” which features McAnally, in April 2024. Zac Brown said in a statement at the time that Buffett “was an incredible human being. This is a celebration of his life and all of the people that will remember him through his songs.”

“I feel so lucky (to have had Buffett as a mentor), and actually when I found out that he passed away, that was my first thought,” Jones said on a previous episode of Get Real with Caroline Hobby. “My husband came in and — because we'd had a show the night before, and I still get goosebumps — my husband came in and he was like, ‘Jimmy passed (away),’ and I was like, I just obviously started crying, and I was like, ‘God, I just feel so grateful and so lucky to have been in his orbit.’ He influenced so many millions of people with his positive, you know, almost childlike joy. But to have been up close and personal, that doesn't come around with a lot of people in this world, you know. So, I just feel so lucky to have been mentored by him.”

Jones kicked off her headlining tour just a few days after releasing her latest album, Good Omen. The 12-track project blends influences from Appalachian, folk, bluegrass, rock, country and pop, with more “emotional richness” than ever before. Jones said in a recent conversation with iHeartCountry that “I think that just comes from the empathy that comes with motherhood,” after welcoming Baby No. 1 in November 2023. “In this chapter, there's just been real jet fuel on the personal growth. And I think that shows in the lyrics of this album, and hopefully connects to people and makes them feel less alone in some of those emotions. …I’m so proud of this record.” See her remaining tour dates below.