My Interview with Kenny Loggins

As I am writing this blog post I am still floating around on "cloud nine". I am still very much "over the moon" over the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview one of my all time favorite musicians, Kenny Loggins.

I have been a fan of Kenny Loggins since I was a child. I remember singing along with "Whenever I call you Friend" and "This Is It". I can't listen to "Forever" or "Return to Pooh Corner" without getting a tear in my eye. "Forever" is just such a beautiful, but sad song and "Return to Pooh's Corner" reminds me of my son's preschool graduation. They used that song in the class video.

I have been a nervous wreck all day. I have done interviews in college, but I have never interviewed not only a celebrity, but a music icon before. I was afraid that I would sound like a babbling idiot. Under the circumstances I think I did OK.

I had a whole bunch of questions prepared to ask Mr. Loggins. I read them out loud to myself all day just to make sure I didn't stumble over my words. When I finally found myself on the phone with Kenny all my questions went out the window.

First I have to say that he is an incredibly nice man! He made me feel at ease immediately. OK, I was still nervous (LOL). You can hear the excitement in his voice when he spoke about his new album. I loved hearing children in the background too. It just goes to show how much of a family man he is. I also found him to be very down-to-Earth which is exactly how I pictured he would be. He's very soft spoken. He spoke to me in a very relaxed way.

Mr. Loggins has a new album that is coming out on July 21, 2009 called "All Join In". You can tell just by listening to Mr. Loggins talking about this new album that he is really proud of it and he had such a wonderful time making the album.

"All Join In" features Kenny's take on classic songs including the Beatles classic "All Together", Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend In Me" (also heard on the Toy Story soundtrack) and a 50's classic by the Del Vikings called "Come Go With Me". There are also some new songs including "Moose N' Me" which was actually written when Kenny was a teen about his dog. He said he didn't do much with the song because he felt it was too "childish". With the new album Kenny felt that "Moose N' Me" would be a perfect song so he finished writing it and included it on the album. There is another song on the album called "Long Tailed Cat" which was originally recorded in 1971.

I learned that he personally selected all the songs for the new album. Even his own children (five of them!) who range in age from 11 to 28 appear on the new album. His daughter Hana, 11, provided some vocals on the song “First There is A Mountain". He wanted to include children singing on the album because he feels that children appreciate hearing other children singing.

I asked Kenny if he feels that his children will follow in his musical foot steps and he feels that they will. His son Crosby has an album also being released in July called "Time to Move".

Kenny told me that he created "All Join In" because he wanted to make an album where children, parents and grandchildren would appreciate the music and even sing along to it. He says this is the type of album you can pop in on a car trip and everyone can sing along instead of popping in a DVD. The songs on the album can be appreciated by children (especially the newly released turns), parents and even grandparents since there are songs on the album that are 50's and 60's classics too. He told me that the album would be great for children from the ages 4-10. He said after 10 it might be harder to get a child to appreciate the music because by then they are into the more "modern" tunes. This album was created to bring families together.

Kenny also told me that there is not a lot available for families to do together that can bridge the age gaps. He touched upon games as an example and how it's hard to find games that his 11 year old and 16 year old will both love to play with the family. Uno is a favorite game to play in the Loggins household. This is part of the reason why he made this new up-tempo album, "All Join In" as a way parents and children can come together with one another.

I asked Kenny if he was going to stick to this genre of music (family albums). He said no, but he does have plans to make more family type albums in the future as well as his regular music (pop, rock, folk). He enjoys making family friendly albums because he thinks the songs are great to help calm children down and stop crying and are ever great to get children ready for nap time or bed time.

We talked about children and music. He felt that my 12 year old might not enjoy "All Join In" as much as my 9 year old because at her age she's already into the "modern" music. I told him how we put music on our daughter's iPod she she actually appreciates the "classic" artists like Stevie Wonder, Journey, the Jackson Five and others.

I can see why he created the album for families. I can't tell you how I dread long car trips with the kids because we can never agree on what kind of music to listen to (thus the reason why the kids have ipods...LOL). I am excited about the new album so we can FINALLY have something we can all listen to on our trips up to Grandpa & Grandma's house.

I asked about the story behind the song "Return to Pooh Corner". I always thought of it as more about Winnie the Pooh but after hearing Kenny tell me about the story behind it I learned otherwise. "Return to Pooh Corner" was written by him when he was about 17 or 18 years old, just before high school graduation. For him it was a way of letting go of his childhood. WOW! After hearing about the story behind the it I see the song in a whole new light. I have always loved "Return to Pooh Corner". It's a beautiful. They used that song for my son's Pre-K graduation video. Now I have a new appreciation for "Return to Pooh Corner".

And to think that it was actually written so many years ago and it had nothing to do with the current Winnie the Pooh. It was actually based on the E.H. Sheppard Pooh, not the Disney Pooh (sometimes thought of as "Classic Pooh").

I inquired about future plans he had working with his long time partner Jim Messina. They got together and did a song together for the new album. Mr. Loggins and Mr. Messina are going to go on tour August - November, however they will be doing classic Loggins & Messina tunes, not the current music. I would LOVE! LOVE! LOVE to see that concert! I have to find out that tour dates and locations. If he comes to the NY area I so want to go. That would be an amazing concert! As far as future collaborations he told me that he'll see how it goes.

I asked him about the new "Footloose" movie they will be making and if he will be involved with it somehow. After all when you think "Footloose" you think of Kenny Loggin's song. He told me as of right now nothing has been discussed, but you never know. I sure hope they do include him on the soundtrack. "Footloose" is just not "Footloose" without Kenny singing the title song.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. I was just in total awe over this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview a music icon, a true artist who has stood the test of time and who continues to bless our lives with beautiful music.

"All Join In" is released on July 21, 2009 and will be available wherever music is sold. You can also pre-order the album on Amazon. I'm going to buy the album as soon as it's released so I can do a review of the album for my She Scribes readers too.

I know Mr. Loggins will be reading this post about my interview with him this evening. I just want to take this time to tell him THANK YOU SO MUCH! I will never forget this AMAZING opportunity. I was such a nervous wreck too and I truly appreciate how "at ease" you made me feel. It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you this afternoon and I hope that "All Join In" as the success I know it will be.

Thank you!

Time to come back down from being on top of the world. Nah... I sort of like it up here. I think I'll stick around a while longer.