Jim Messina is bringing his five decades of music industry expertise and his talented four-man band to The Suffolk on Nov. 14.
At 8 p.m. the multi-genre performer, producer and music engineer and his band, The Road Runners, will play popular tracks from Messina’s discography, Loggins and Messina hits and new releases.
“The whole band is built around percussion, drums, bass, keyboards, saxophone and me on guitar and mandolin,” says Messina. “So, we’re able to reproduce just about everything, every genre that I started out with, from folk to country to rock to Latin.”
His band, which formed two years ago, is composed of other musicians who live close by and crave the same calmed-down musician’s life. Steve Nieves, who played with Loggins and Messina in the past, is on saxophone and woodwinds. Jim Frazier, on keyboard and guitar, sings some harmonies from Loggins and Messina. Bassist Ben King brings youth to the group, and percussionist Jack Bruno played with Tina Turner, Elton John and Delbert McClinton.
In April, the band released the album Here, There and Everywhere, inspired by their time touring the United States.
“This album is really a chronology of the concert we’re going to be doing,” says Messina. “I recorded it because I wanted it to be a predecessor for what we would be doing throughout this year.”
Messina has been building radios and leading bands since he was 11 years old. In 1966, he was mixing rock band Buffalo Springfield’s music, but later joined as bassist.
“I didn’t know who they were until they got into the studio, but I liked what I heard,” says Messina. “I felt they were more synonymous with the music that I would like to create, so it was a joy to be a part of that, and then to suddenly become the bass player for Buffalo Springfield was a totally different experience because now I was a performer in a group that I was producing and engineering.”
With Poco, another rock band, Messina was thrilled at the opportunity to create country rock as a guitarist.
Eventually, Messina wanted to stop performing and take a break from being on the road. As a producer, he picked up Kenny Loggins. His next endeavor as part of Loggins & Messina proved to be transformative.
“It took a lot of work to get him organized and get his band and get him hooked up with the right managers and agents and road crew, and it was quite a job,” says Messina. “I wasn’t sure that he would have the opportunity that he needed. I asked if perhaps we could do an album where I was sitting in, and the purpose was so that I could introduce Kenny to my previous group’s audience.”
Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In was so well received that the pair went on to perform together for years, becoming a well-known duo and releasing several albums.
About eight years ago, Messina, who grew up in Texas, moved to Tennessee after years of living in California.
“Nowadays, instead of being on full tour alert, I tour each month for maybe 10 to 14 days,” says Messina. “That way I have time to be home, to be with my family — the dog doesn’t bite me when I come home.”
Riverhead is the band’s second stop. Between shows, Messina hopes to continue to create music, spending time in his studio repairing equipment and woodworking and metalworking in his workshop.
“There’s always that opportunity that something great will happen again,” says Messina.
To purchase tickets to see Messina and his band at the Suffolk, click here.
