“Lose your blues, everybody cut loose!” Shouldn’t be too hard to do when the iconic rocker Kenny Loggins joins Pacific Symphony for a concert co-presented with the OC Fair, featuring the popular singer’s greatest hits.
For more than four remarkable decades, Loggins’ smash songs have catapulted the dynamic singer-songwriter to the top of the charts, making him the toast of the Grammys. And now—backed by the full symphony orchestra, led by Symphony favorite Albert-George Schram—Loggins and his talented band come to Orange County to belt out many of his most-loved tunes, from “Danny’s Song” and “House at Pooh Corner,” to “This Is It,” “Celebrate Me Home,” the blockbuster “Footloose” and more! For those seeking a sensational musical evening under a perfect Southern California sky—“This is it!”
“One real joy of my job is that I always get to dip into the best of the muse a guest artist has to offer,” says Maestro Schram, who will be conducting a Loggins concert for the second time. “I’m privileged that way. So I look forward to working with Kenny again. He’s the real thing!!”
The concert takes place on Wednesday, July 12, at 8 p.m., in the Pacific Amphitheatre at the OC Fair and Event Center. Patrons will find they no longer have a lengthy walk in from the parking lot, as in past seasons at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, which is now closed. The award-winning caterer 24 carrots onsite serving up tasty selections from a gourmet menu. Additionally, there are a variety of vendor options for pre-concert dining from Spectra. Picnic on the Plaza Pacifica pre-concert or in the seats during the performance—the choices are many! Single tickets range from $25-$99. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.
“While I’ve never conducted at the OC Fair before,” says Schram, “I know Pacific Symphony has a party wherever they go, so nothing can stop us from having a really great time in their new summer venue! I have chosen familiar, popular music for the first half, where the Symphony has a chance to strut its stuff in its own rockin’ way! We’ll be swinging with the ‘Band Stand Boogie’ and ‘Sing Sing Sing,’ and culminate with a free-for-all sing-along, where the audience will sing as Pacific Symphony plays such fine favorites like ‘Rawhide,’ ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and ‘Louie Louie.’ All in all, a profound, stirring musical experience of the highest artistic caliber!”
As for the concert’s headliner—the signature shaggy, sandy-colored hair and goatee, tall, trim frame, and strong, powerful vocals announce Loggins’ identity the moment he takes the stage. Longtime singing partner for the duo Loggins & Messina, he is perhaps best known as the king of movie soundtracks. He has also rocked stages worldwide and found his way into children’s hearts, while bringing his soulful, stunning voice to platinum albums of a remarkable variety of genres. Loggins’ gift for crafting deeply emotional music is unparalleled, and it’s been a part of his life as long as he can remember.
“The more honest you can be, the less you have to hide… When I have nothing to hide, I have everything to give,” Loggins says.
Although he’s got 12 platinum albums, a pair of Grammys and hits on almost all the Billboard charts under his belt, Loggins is far from done. Last year he released his latest children’s project, the book “Footloose,” inspired by his 1985 Oscar nominated and Grammy award-winning “Song of the Year,” and he’s looking forward to what’s next.
“I feel very lucky that this is the way I make my living, and not a lot of people can say that,” says Loggins. “I’ve been lucky that I love what I do and I get to keep doing it.”
When Loggins was 7 years old, he watched his two older brothers struggle to write a song, “and I remember thinking, it just can’t be that hard,” the singer laughs. Around a year later, inspired by the film “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” he realized songwriting was his future. “It’s a moment that sticks with you,” he says, “I knew deep inside that this is something I could do.”
Once he started doing it, he never stopped.
Loggins initially turned to music as a way to compensate for his extreme shyness, just to discover that he was a talented guitarist and had a voice. Born in Washington and having moved to California early on, he was based in Pasadena for a time in the late ’60s. At the end of the decade, Loggins joined a band called Gator Creek. The group recorded one self-titled album, which was issued in 1970 and included an early version of “Danny’s Song,” a track that he later recorded again as part of Loggins & Messina.
While proficient on the guitar and piano, it was Loggins songwriting that first made a lasting impression on the music industry. He took a job as a staff writer for Wingate Music, and later that year four of his songs ended up on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, “Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy.” This was particularly fortuitous, as that album was the first release by the newly restructured version of the group, and included what proved to be their biggest hit, “Mr. Bojangles.” The song helped make “Uncle Charlie” one of the group’s biggest and longest-selling albums; and the exposure made way for a second hit—Loggins’ own “House at Pooh Corner.”
The success of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s recordings brought Loggins to the attention of former Poco member Jim Messina, who was working as a staff producer at CBS. It was Messina’s intention to produce Loggins’ debut album, but he also ended up playing and singing on the record, and it worked out so well that the two ended up in a duo. Loggins & Messina were among the most popular folk-based soft rock acts of the first half of the ’70s and enjoyed a four-year string of successful albums. They broke up in 1976, but Loggins maintained a strong following in the years to follow.
He went on to solo stardom with such million-selling albums as “Celebrate Me Home,” “Nightwatch” (which included the hit “Whenever I Call You Friend”), and “Keep the Fire.” Loggins also became known as the king of the movie soundtrack songs, scoring Top Ten hits with “I’m Alright” (from “Caddyshack”), “Footloose” (from “Footloose”), “Danger Zone” (from “Top Gun”), and “Nobody’s Fool” (from “Caddyshack II”). During this period, he was also one of the participants on the benefit recording for Africa, “We Are the World.”
Summer Festival 2017 is made possible by supporting sponsor, The Orange County Register, Westin Southcoast Plaza and media sponsors PBS SoCal, K-Earth 101, KPCC and KUSC.
