Pine Island
Pine Island, NY · Arts & Culture
westmilfordmessenger.com
The Bergen Record
Jim Messina helped launch Kenny Loggins. Now he’s playing in Wayne
When Kenny Loggins arrived at Jim Messina’s home, he had shaggy hair, a scruffy beard and braces on his teeth. He had come to play music and hadn’t even brought a guitar. Messina, already a veteran of Buffalo Springfield and Poco , thought someone was playing a joke on him. “I’m wondering, am I being put on here? I wasn’t sure what was going on,” he said in a recent phone interview. He lent the visitor a guitar and recorded his songs. Loggins later told Messina that he did own a guitar that night. But he was embarrassed to bring the old thing along. Still, Loggins had an impressive voice. There was more here to work with than that first impression suggested, Messina thought. He decided to help Loggins assemble a band. He helped arrange the music. He would prepare the young songwriter for a career and produce his first album. Then he’d get back to producing other people. Instead, he became half of Loggins and Messina. It was an unexpected turn in a musical life that had already put him in the studio with Neil Young and Stephen Stills and on stage with Poco. The man who co-wrote “Your
westmilfordmessenger.com
Mid-Hudson News Network
NFA alumna returns home to star as Glinda in ‘The Wiz’
NEWBURGH- Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) is bringing the magic of The Wiz to the stage this weekend, featuring a special guest performer with deep ties to the school. Mina Thomas Brett, an NFA graduate from the Class of 2005, will return to her alma mater to play Glinda in the school’s production of the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical. The production puts a soulful spin on the classic Wizard of Oz story, blending gospel, funk, R&B, and high-energy choreography.