Caroline Jones Drops 'Gulf Coast Girl', w/ Kenny Chesney + More

"Gulf Coast Girl," the latest release from country newcomer Caroline Jones, is so tropical and beach-ready that it practically smells like sunscreen. The song is an ode to carefree summer living, name-checking the south's most water-centric towns: Biloxi, Miss., New Orleans, La., Pensacola, Fla. and many more.

Jones got a little high-profile help with the song, in the form of her all-star backup vocalists, the Pelicanaires. The group consists of none other than Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, Lukas Nelson and Mac McAnally.

The singer has a particularly beachy connection to at least two of her star collaborators. She's a card-carrying member of No Shoes Nation after joining Chesney on his Songs for the Saints Tour in spring of 2019. Furthermore, her partnership with Buffett kicked off after they both performed at the Trying to Reason hurricane benefit in 2017.

"My introduction to Caroline was at a benefit concert we were doing a few years back in Tallahassee, after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on Florida," Buffett states in a press release. "I had heard really good things about her from friends, but was taken aback when I watched her open the show."

Ever since then, he'd wanted to collaborate with her on the project that eventually became "Gulf Coast Girl," and he co-penned the song with McAnally. "Mac McAnally and I were interested in working with her and wanted to come up with a 'feel good' song that would do the same on beaches and lakes thousands of miles away from the beach I grew up on."

For her part, Jones says that she jumped at the chance to collaborate with her long-time icons and friends. "It was an honor to have such iconic and respected friends write this song for me, and have the opportunity to collaborate with them on it," she notes. "I have known Mac for almost ten years now, and have had the privilege of going out on tour with both Jimmy and Kenny. They have all become friends and mentors, which I am grateful for."

"Gulf Coast Girl follows Jones' latest single, "Chasin' Me." Looking ahead, Jones will be on the road with the Zac Brown Band for the duration of the summer of 2019.

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