Kenny Loggins

Eleven of How About Now’s twelve original selections came to life during a period of personal transition for Loggins, who notes that many of them started as journal entries before being crafted into songs. In conceiving the album, Loggins says, “I wanted to find that place that expresses the feelings I was going through, and also the healing that was taking place, the vision of where I wanted to be. I think my best stuff – songs like “Danny’s Song,” “A Love Song,” “Celebrate Me Home” – has always been written in the first person about things that mattered to me the most.” In that vein, his new CD’s title track, “How About Now,” is a hook-heavy, uptempo instant classic that naturally plays to his strengths both as a songwriter and vocalist. “It’s the emotional center of the record,” he says, “you can have a great life, a great day – what about today? This is an album about growing, and moving on, that’s why I titled it after this song.”

How About Now also includes a beautiful reworking of the 1973 Loggins-penned Loggins & Messina ballad “A Love Song,” the album’s only previously recorded track. “I thought,” recalls Loggins, “here’s one I’ve been playing for over thirty years – how can I come up with a new way to do it?” He was delighted to reinvent it with an inspired group of young Santa Barbara, CA area musicians. “It helped to have the eyes and ears of players in their 20s in the mix,” says Loggins, “the song ended up having a whole new sensibility to it.” Other stand-outs include “I’ll Remember Your Name,” a reflection on love lost that also features Kenny’s son Crosby Loggins, who has his own band and album release.