LIHUE — Jim Messina has fond memories of Hawaii. He first came to the Aloha State in 1972 when he performed in Maui as member of Loggins and Messina, a pop-rock group. One town in particular struck a chord with
LIHUE — Jim Messina has fond memories of Hawaii. He first came to the Aloha State in 1972 when he performed in Maui as member of Loggins and Messina, a pop-rock group.
One town in particular struck a chord with the singer.
“I fell in love with Lahaina, it was a great artist community,” Messina said. “It was just heaven.”
Messina is back on tour and will be playing at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Jan. 21
Lahaina was also where Messina had his first experience with centipedes.
“I had never seen one before, and one ran across my feet,” he said. “It scared the living daylights out of me.”
That experience inspired him to write a song, “Lahaina,” which talked about the beauty of Maui, but focused on his centipede scare.
In one of the verses, Messina sings about the Lahaina lifestyle and mangoes, but is quick to say, “but the centipede he crawls all over your feet.”
Loggins and Messina released “Lahaina” a year later.
“Lahaina” isn’t the only song in Messina’s repertoire inspired by Hawaii.
“The Island,” which was released in 1983, is an homage to Maui.
“It (tries to capture) the sense of Hawaii, the surfing, beach and love of the environment,” Messina said.
When Loggins and Messina played in Hawaii, they got a hotel room and would go out to the bars after a performance, Messina said. But those days are over. Now, when Messina travels to Hawaii, he brings his wife and 9-year-old daughter, Josey.
“We rent a condo, and Hawaii trips have become a family affair, which is a new experience for me,” the 68-year-old said. “But when you have a family, your life changes.”
The concert on Kauai is one of three locations Messina will be playing during his Three Island Tour in Hawaii later this month that also includes performances on Maui and the Big Island.
He will be traveling with former band-mate Rusty Young.
“My agent asked me how I would feel about getting engagements in Hawaii, and I said ‘go for it,’” he said.
Messina, who has been in the music industry for about 50 years, has experience in music production.
He was 17 when a deejay asked him to produce an album for two new artists.
“I told him I didn’t know much, but I had a one-year apprenticeship with him,” Messina said.
In the mid-1960s, Messina was selected to play bass for Buffalo Springfield, a rock band. After the band broke up, Messina joined Buffalo Springfield’s founder, Richie Furray, to form a country-rock band called Poco. After three albums, Messina left the band to devote his time to producing.
It was during that time he met Kenny Loggins. The resulting duo led to nine albums.
But Messina will never forget his production roots.
“Production and engineering has always been a part of what my craft is,” he said. “Producing music allows you to have full creativity, it’s a blessing that people put the trust in me to deliver.”
He likens production to painting.
“You have to know what colors will go together and how to put them on the canvas,” he said. “Creating a mix is very similar to that; you have to know how the sounds work.”
Messina will be performing at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
General admission tickets are $45 and Gold Circle tickets are $65. Tickets can be bought online at www.lazarbearproductions.com.
