Grant Livingston

Let's face it: Jimmy Buffett was Florida's favorite son until fame and fortune stole him away. So which singer/songwriter best reflects our state these days? Local folkies will likely tell you it's Grant Livingston. Dubbed Best Acoustic Performer in last year's New TimesBest of Miami poll, Livingston has recorded three albums since the late Eighties, each filled with amiable narratives extolling the wit, whimsy, and wildlife unique to these environs. Never one to take himself or his topics too seriously -- except when it comes to musing about environmental issues -- he is known as a warm, affable storyteller, kinda like a Mister Rogers for the older crowd or one of those unceasingly cheery troubadours parodied so fondly in A Mighty Wind. Leave your cynicism at home and enjoy a show as sunny as the state he's so fond of celebrating. -- Lee Zimmerman