It’s only fitting that the name of the environmental foundation
being launched at SOhO this Friday is called “Next Wave.” Not only
is the name a reflection of the charter of the new organization, it
also aptly reflects the musical talent joining the launch. When
Crosby Loggins takes the stage with his Namedropping colleagues,
this unassuming front-man will show why his musical collective will
be crashing upon greater shores before too much longer. The
symbiosis of the two undertakings reflects a firm family
dedication—and not only because Kenny Loggins will be joining his
son on stage.
Founded by a group of Santa Barbara High School students, The
Next Wave Foundation is a conservation organization guided by
Loggins’s family that will focus its attention upon coastal
communities and use famous faces to enlighten young people about
relevant environmental issues. It is an approach of which Loggins
knows the power, as he has seen firsthand the influence that fame
can have.
“I’m really fortunate to know a lot of people who not only have
a lot of influence but also care,” said the younger Loggins. “The
folks I have been brought up around, like Jackson Browne and Bonnie
Raitt, are some of the people I admire the most because of what
they have done. So when you see people like this, and if you have
the means yourself, you just feel the instinct to try and organize
the forces you have. … And at SOhO, we will work the father-son
angle as shamelessly as possible in the name of something we all
care about!”
While Loggins readily acknowledges the advantages of his musical
heritage, he is very much his own man. At eight, he started playing
piano. At 10, he picked up a guitar. And by the time he was in his
teens, he was writing and singing his own compositions. But while
he seemed destined for musical stardom, he also saw the bad side of
creative success.
“People always assumed that I was going to grow up and sing,”
explained Loggins. “And as a kid I kind of bought into that. It
wasn’t until I reached my twenties that I started to question it. I
realized very early on that success doesn’t equal happiness and the
music world is difficult for your home life.” When Loggins
graduated high school, he moved to Hawaii to build houses, just to
see if he could give up music. “If I could, that meant I probably
should. But one day I came home upset and realized I didn’t have a
guitar in my apartment. In a need to emote, I borrowed a friend’s
guitar and wrote some songs.”
While those songs might never see the light of day, they are
some of the most important of his career—Loggins had connected with
his calling on a personal level. The next step was finding the
right help, so he teamed up with Nick Hartley, of the esteemed
Hartley Fitzgerald Agency. The two set about establishing a basic
musical mission statement, which became, “If at all possible, could
nobody be an asshole?” After pulling together an impressive
collection of musicians, Loggins began brandishing his soulful
sound around Santa Barbara. And now, with the right people in
place, the ensemble has been spending its time between shows down
at Brotheryn Studios in Ventura recording Loggins’s debut
album.
“It’s been an independent project, so we have run out of money a
few times, but I’m really proud of it,” said Loggins. “Like
anybody’s first album you have the luxury to pick from the finest
songs you have done up to this point. And I am playing with my
friends too, which makes it very special. We have one more session
and then it’ll all be wrapped up. We’ve had a lot of label interest
already so we will just have to wait and see what happens.”
Whatever happens long term for Crosby Loggins and The
Namedroppers, it’ll surely be significant. In the short term? You
will just have to get yourself along to SOhO and join Crosby
Loggins and his family to launch the Next Wave. Rest assured—it
will be a wave that is destined to keeping rolling for some time to
come.
4·1·1 Crosby Loggins and The Namedroppers join Kathrin Shorr,
Bella Loggins, and Kenny Loggins in an evening of music at SOhO on
Friday, February 10, to benefit The Next Wave Foundation. Call
962-7776.