Las Vegas Weekly

March 13, 2009 · 6:29 AM

Kenny Loggins has double duty this weekend: two concerts at two casinos

By Robin Leach

Kenny Loggins.

Photo: Kenny Loggins

Whenever I write about singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, my mind always flashes back to a four-day celebrity weekend in Alaska. Kenny, Pierce Brosnan, a host of other stars and I wound up on a desolate point of river -- land where we handled live eagles flying on and off our arms strapped in leather so the talons didn’t dig into our skin.

Kenny was calm -- at peace -- and you would never have thought of any of us as being in the crazed, hectic world of showbiz. We were at peace with nature.

In a sense, Kenny has always reflected a certain peace with his songs, yet many are musical versions of his troubled life. He bares his emotions as if he was in counseling. Maybe it’s therapeutic for him to be so emotional. He’s had two marriage upheavals in his life, and both turn up on his albums Leap of Faith and Unimaginable Life.

Photo: Courtesy

This is it: Alizma with Kenny Loggins.

Now the 61-year-old singer is out on the road again promoting his latest CD How About Now. Once again, fans will find material to personally relate to and call their song -- just as Kenny does himself, as he told me!

He does double duty this weekend with back-to-back shows that start tonight at Green Valley Ranch and then tomorrow at the new Access Showroom in Aliante. It will be just Kenny and his guitar. Later this year, his band will return to the touring schedule, but any duets with Jim Messina may be a little farther down the road.

Kenny first rose to fame as a songwriter for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and then as a duo with Jim in the early 1970s. Believe it or not, Kenny’s first Grammy Award was 30 years ago with “What a Fool Believes.” Kenny and Jim split too many years ago to remember and reunited in 2005. Kenny is known worldwide for movie soundtrack hits including “Footloose” and “Danger Zone.”

Kenny’s solo again -- both on stage and in real life. He’s long held the belief that to find out if a girl he’s dating is the right woman for him, he takes them to see Cirque du Soleil’s Love at The Mirage. She’d better like it, or the dating ends -- and he’ll sing about that, too!

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