An Interview with Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina

Over a four year period in the 1970s, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina ruled the airwaves. Reunited for the first time in 30 years, the duo presents LOGGINS AND MESSINA: SITTIN' IN AGAIN, a 60 minute program available from APT Premium Service.

Your songwriting depends on collaboration. How do you think this relates to the collaborative efforts involved with public television?

Kenny Loggins: Jimmy and I learned early on that to collaborate with each other is sharing our strengths and overcoming our weaknesses. The power of collaboration for us has been to take what he does best and what I do best and to mix it together to make something bigger than either one of the individuals.

Jim Messina: Collaboration is important, and we really had to sit down and talk about how we were going to proceed – whether it was writing a song or whether it was working with an arrangement. I had an idea, he had an idea, and we walked way with something that was better than my idea and hopefully better than his idea. I think it was that synergy that made Loggins and Messina special. That is a collaborative effort and when people work that well together it has a seamless effort. And, I think that working in public television and having your team behind the scenes to create a great show is why it’s probably different and much better to view.

What is the importance of having a good team when working towards a larger project?

Messina: To bring [this tour] together and create music we made 30 years ago, not only to make it feel like 30 years ago, but to bring energy into it today so that it would have a leap forward is a team effort. When you have the right people working together, it happens.

Loggins: Everybody brought something special to the table and made it something even bigger than 30 years ago. That’s the power of the collaborative force – when you can bring really strong people together to create something, whether it’s new or recreating something. You count on those individual talents to show up. I think that’s the power of public television – that it brings together the type of talent that you wouldn’t normally see in other avenues, certainly not on other types of television.

There has been a recent trend of band reunions. What are your thoughts on being a part of this trend and why would you choose to share yours with the public television audience?

Loggins: This has been an incredible opportunity in the past year for Jimmy and me to reconnect as friends and take a look at the music that we created as young men. It’s been a real interesting time for us to drop back into those days and re-meet our audience from 30 years ago.

Messina: This [bond] was something that we created 30 years ago. We recreated it now, and to have a team of producers and directors who specifically look at something that is special that may not get on commercial television but can get on public television…..we know that we need the help from the audience to make this happen and continue to happen for other acts.

What makes music programming on public television different?

Messina: Public television is very consistent with creating programs that are artistic – especially that have a little more love to them (as opposed to just filming it and sticking it out there). So, I think that’s part of the creative collaboration that occurs behind the cameras with the directors and the people creating these programs – and that makes it special and different for me.

Loggins: I think you see the kind of programming here that you can’t see anywhere else; artists who are more creatively involved with the music that the audience is getting to see and programs the audience is connecting to. This is unique to public television, and definitely worth supporting. The power of public television is that it can take a show like ours, or opera, or all sorts of levels of different arts,- and bring that to the people in general – people that might not necessarily have access to those arts in other avenues. This is the clearest way to find other kinds of art that can come into your home.

Why should viewers support public television?

Messina: The programs that I see on public television seem to go further in areas that I can’t see on commercial television because of the commercials and because of the timing and the speed – it goes too quick. I like the time that’s taken and the production values that public television has.

Loggins: You feel the heart of the performance come through. Public television is the one place that allows performance and creativity to shine and is not as determined to pummel you with advertising. So if you’re looking for something that is going to feed you and let you take more time and enjoy it in a deeper way, this is the right place to be.

*This interview is available for use in the marketing and/or promotion of Loggins and Messina: Sittin' In Again (program guides and/or Web sites). No part of this interview may be used relating to any product or service, other than the program.