“Jimmy Buffett was one of the most prolific and successful performers of our time. We created OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD: THE FIRST CORAL REEFERS to document the untold story of his formative years and the creation of the original Coral Reefer Band through the firsthand accounts of the musicians, producer, tour manager, and friends who were there. Capturing these stories was especially important because, like Jimmy himself, many of the original players are no longer with us.

I first saw Buffett and the Coral Reefers perform in 1977 and moved to Key West the following year. His music—and the island that inspired so much of it—has remained an important part of my life ever since. As a filmmaker, writer, and historian, I felt a responsibility to preserve these stories before they were lost.

Beyond directing and producing this film, I’m the USA TODAY bestselling author of the twelve-book, Key West-based Buck Reilly adventure series. With permission from Buffett’s longtime manager, Howard Kaufman, I included Jimmy as a character in the third novel, Crystal Blue. That novel inspired The Ballad of Buck Reilly, which I co-wrote with singer-songwriter Matt Hoggatt. Through Matt, whose first album was released on Buffett’s Mailboat Records, I met many of the musicians who became central to this documentary. Those relationships eventually led to songwriting collaborations with original Coral Reefers Roger Bartlett and Keith Sykes, both of whom appear in OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD.

Those experiences convinced me there was an extraordinary story waiting to be told. As legendary Coral Reefer harmonica player Greg “Fingers” Taylor called them, these were the band’s “heavy artillery years”—a time when the original Coral Reefers were as unpredictable as they were talented. Long before the polished, professional band audiences came to know over the past three decades, they were young musicians navigating chaos, creativity, and constant uncertainty. Their stories will surprise even lifelong Buffett fans.

The 1970s and early ’80s were a different era for touring musicians, and this film captures both the excesses and the artistry of that time. The cast recounts how many of Buffett’s defining songs and albums came together, how he fought the music industry to record with his own band instead of studio musicians, and how success ultimately forced difficult decisions about the very people who helped build his sound. Although Buffett recorded 32 studio albums, 14 live albums and 11 compilations over a fifty-year career, the music that defined his concerts largely came from this remarkable early period. Yet few fans know the story behind it. OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD offers an entertaining and revealing look at those years while reshaping the narrative of how Jimmy Buffett became the cultural icon he would eventually become.

Life on the road was raw, unpredictable, and often broke. Jimmy and the band were simply young musicians chasing a dream, embracing adventure wherever it led. Sometimes they looked like rising stars; sometimes they looked like shooting stars. Either way, they kept moving forward.

For some, Buffett’s legacy is the billion-dollar Margaritaville empire of restaurants, resorts, food products, beer, and tequila. For others, it’s the Parrot Head community of tailgates, grass skirts, and coconut bras. But beneath it all was the music—and the remarkable group of musicians who helped create it. Whether audiences are devoted fans, lovers of 1970s music, or discovering Buffett for the first time, I hope they leave with a deeper appreciation for how Key West shaped his artistic vision, how the original Coral Reefers forged the band’s signature sound, and how those early years laid the foundation for everything that followed.

Jimmy Buffett’s final message to his friends was simple: “Keep the party going.”

“OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD shows where the party began.”