The ever-popular Jimmy Buffett, who plays at Comerica Park Saturday night, tells Fox 2 of his affinity for Detroit and Michigan.
"Michigan audiences have always had a special place in my heart, because, unbeknownst to a lot of people, I started out many many years ago playing in a little club called the Raven Gallery out in Southfield."
"We worked our way up through those years of clubs and places like that to where we actually got to open for Jerry Jeff Walker at Pine Knob. And then we got to be the headliner at Pine Knob. It’s still one of the great venues as a performer because of the way it was built.
He said there's no other place on tour where he plays in the middle of a large metropolitan area.
And he adds:
"We don’t do many stadiums.
It's his third year in a row at Comerica.
He says he understands the musical taste of the people of Michigan and feels very comfortable here.
"I used to spend a lot of time with my friend Jim Harrison up on Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau and up in that part of the state. And for all the years I worked Ann Arbor and East Lansing during college days, I got a lot of Michigan in here."
He said when hard times hit Detroit a few years ago, some people in his camp argued against going, saying nobody is selling there.
"I said 'we're going to play in Detroit. I said I don't care if a thousand people show up , I don't care if 18,000 people show up. It's about, they have been that good to me.' "
He said the concert "sold out in about three minutes. I knew it was going to happened. If it hadn't of happened it would n't have mattered to me. I knew that people needed that. "