Jim Messina

A legend of his field, Jim Messina contributes heavily to the folklore surrounding folk. His career is unsinkable, spanning 55+ years due to his immense capabilities as a solo artist and band member alike. Getting his start at 16 with Jim Messina and the Jesters, the folk rock pundit has been in some of the genre’s most iconic groups - Buffalo Springfield, Poco - before embarking on the two pinnacles of his career: Loggins and Messina, and a solo career. It was with Kenny Loggins that he made some of the decade’s staples, from Sittin’ In’s folk “Danny’s Song,” to Loggins and Messina’s soft rock “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” Going solo, several of Messina’s albums reached the Billboard Top 100 as well. We recently spoke with the remarkable Messina about his band tenures, lessons learnt from a lifelong career, and more! Click the link in our bio to read the full interview!  

WIMITLA: Hi, Mr. Messina, this is Eli with Whenimkaeitola. for the interview. Are you ready? 

JIM MESSINA: When you are. 

W: Great! It’s a real honor to sit down and talk to you today. Our first question is “How did you start making music?”

J: Well, I started making music when I was about five years old. My father was a guitarist and he always had an instrument around. Not knowing the word at the time, I was very excited and inspired watching him play, and it gave me the desire to wanna learn how to do that. And, that was the really the beginning of what it took for me to find my way in life.

W: So if you’ve been surrounded by music from such a young age, growing up, who were some of your favorite artists? 

J: Well, when I was growing up, country western music because I started playing early and because of my father. Where we lived in California in the 50s, music was just starting out in more of the country western style, and that’s what my father liked. There was a car dealership called “Worthington Dodge” and they had what’s called “Cal’s Corral,” and we used to watch this on television, on Sundays I think. They had artists like Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two, so we got the chance to see that on television, and that's how I learned to play the guitar. I watched their fingers to see what chords they were playing. So, that was my introduction to watching performing artists. It was more in the early 50s, the country western/swing music. 

But, my parents were separated. When I was with my father I listened to that style of music, but with my mother it was rock and roll. She liked Elvis Presley, as well as what they used to call “race records,” which was rhythm and blues songs done by [groups like] The Cadillacs. That’s where I was introduced to B.B. King and Freddie King, so, as I got older, like in high school, I began to listen to more R&B, especially with my mother. In junior high school, I was listening to The Champs and obscure groups like Torques, instrumental groups mainly. My voice had not developed at that point in time, so I was more interested in the instrumental players. 

W: Can you tell us about the first moment you realized you were famous? 

J: Well, can’t say I was famous, but I started working with Buffalo Springfield, and of course they were famous at the time. I’d started with them as the bass player, and my first engagement, when I walked off stage, [fans] started ripping the fringe off my jacket because they wanted a piece of me. I just thought that was the most disgusting experience I ever had. So, I guess they thought I was famous! 

W: Well, that’s actually a nice segway to our next question, about the fact that you’ve worked with a number of groups, from your original band Jim Messina and His Jesters, to Buffalo Springfield, to your iconic partnership with Kenny Loggins. So, which one was your favorite to be in? 

J: They were all my favorites and important in a linear, chronological sense. I think each step of my career, starting as a kid playing at the Grand Terrace Country Club by the pool, is different. That, at the time, was just as exciting for me as playing at Madison Square Garden. My career is all tied together and part of one inspirational process. It’s all part of one opportunity whether it be performing, producing, or engineering. Looking back, it was all very exciting, and all very different. I could always say that one was better than the other, but I think that’s a judgement. Being in the moment, however, made them all my favorite and all important. 

W: Yeah. Well, after Loggins and Messina you did start your own solo career, so what would be the biggest difference, for you at least, between being a part of a group and having a solo career? 

J: Being part of a group is a great experience because everyone is contributing something that makes it the whole. Having a partnership, like with Kenny [Loggins], is great because it’s a more intimate relationship, you know, when writing songs and creating music that’s for both of us. But, I have to say that I enjoy working solo more because I can make decisions, and I don’t have anybody to argue with but myself. Rightly or wrongly, I feel better and wholler from making my own decisions, but I still enjoy working with other people. I enjoy working with Kenny when we play, and in the past I enjoyed all of that. It was great, just very difficult being in a group. It’s supposed to be a democracy, but it can be a bit of a pain in the buttocks, you know? It’s hard to make everybody happy. 

W: Oh for sure. If you could only perform one song from any point in your career, which one would you pick

J: Oh boy. That’s a tough one. I don’t think I can make that decision, there’s a number of songs that I enjoy playing. I don’t have one I can pick. 

W: Well, when you do sit down and make music, what’s the first thing done to get the process going? 

J: Nowadays I have to start rehearsing at least a couple weeks in advance to get my voice and memory and everything back up to speed so that I can walk on stage and everything [will] be second nature. That’s mainly because we don't perform as much as we used to, and in some ways I’m glad, because performing 200 or so dates a year is a lot of time away from home. I don’t know if it made me a better person. It certainly made me more capable to go on stage and remember what I was supposed to do, but I’d rather perform [less] and spend a week rehearsing rather than perform so much. I used to think “Well, maybe I’m getting old,” but I also couldn’t remember stuff when I was 16. It’s a whole process in the brain. It’s kind of like being an athlete. You cannot go to the 100 yard dash line without having prepared and expect to win the race. It just does not work that way. Your muscles have to have memory and experience and you have to have confidence that you can push ‘em and they’ll go where they need to go. It’s the same thing with the guitar and lyrics: They need to be rehearsed and exercised in order to have them come out the best they can be, at least in my experience. I’m sure there are other people that can just walk out there and do it perfectly every time, but I’m not one of them.  

W: Totally. What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve been given? 

J: In terms of my career? 

W: Sure, in terms of your career, yeah. 

J: Ha, that’s funny. “Sure.” That’s something my son would say. Well, there’s been a lot of good advice, most of which I’ve taken. And, that which I didn’t or experimented with I’ve realized I should’ve listened [to] the first time. But, I think the most important thing that I’ve learned in my career is that drugs do not enhance anything. If anything, they make things more difficult and cause health and legal issues. I chose not to do drugs in my life so that I could a) be clear-headed, and b) take on responsibilities like producing records and handling large amounts of money for people. Also to let people know that they can trust me, you know, that’s always been very important in my life. I’ve learned it’s better to, when spending other people’s money [by making music], be prepared and rehearse so that you can go in, do your job, and get your records done.

I think overall, as far as legal advice in my life, I was once told “You know, if you earn a million dollars you can’t live like a millionaire.” You have to live like whatever the investment return is. In those days it was 10% I think, so a millionaire should have learned to live like he has $100,000. The most important thing in a career, especially because it happens really quick - sometimes a career’s only a couple of years - is that you need to invest your money, and invest it in something that’s going to give you a return so that you can live comfortably. Becoming financially independent was one of the best pieces of advice one of my attorneys gave me very early on in my career, the late 60s or so, and I’ve worked to do that in my life. [My family is] able to live modestly now, but comfortably, on the investments that I made over the years. So, I think it’s important that if a person is going to have a career, they have to realize that even if it’s for 2 or 3 years, it should last them 40 or 50. 

How you treat your body, health, friends, the people that you work with, your integrity and drive, and being trustworthy is all very, very important. That gets challenged. I’ve had many times where people have offered me a drug and I’ve said “No,” and they say “Come on man, it’s not gonna hurt you,” but I’m simply not comfortable taking that. “Be my guest if you are. Go right ahead,” I say. So I guess it also takes the ability to be independent, to feel free to speak your mind and tell the truth, no matter what the consequences are. Sometimes you tell the truth and it hurts, but it’s the truth. You never have to go back and apologize for it. 

W: Yeah. I think that’s very sound advice. Do you have any future projects in the works? 

J: Oh yeah. I’m finishing up building a studio for myself for one, and as soon as this pandemic wears down, I’m planning on revising my setlist to include some of my solo works that I haven’t had for a while. I’m hoping to get some tunes from Oasis in, as well as Messina, and One More Mile if we can. So, I’m in the process of putting together those setlists, and I’m looking at doing a show here in August, assuming that things don’t get worse. We’d be doing an outdoor, drive-in theater sort of situation where people come in in cars and watch, as opposed to coming inside of a building. It’s an outdoor event, 3 days, but we’re waiting to see if we can do it with this uptick in the pandemic. It really is week by week at this point in time, you know? It’s hard to tell anything. 

W: Yeah, the situation is ever changing. 

J: Well, I’ve had dead times in my career when I didn’t really perform. I had a son, I needed to be home, and so it wasn’t a good idea for me to work during that period of time. But, you see, one of the things I’ve done in my life which has made me feel really good is I picked up other things. I learned carpentry and metalwork. I love to paint, as far as fine arts, but I also paint in terms of houses. I have a really nice woodshop and a really nice metalshop, so when I’m not out on the road performing, I’m building furniture, repairing the house, or building other things. I’m very inspired to get up for the day and get things done, and, again, because careers in the music business are not always consistent, it’s important to learn how to do these things, not only for the preservation of your home, but also to have something to do so you don’t get depressed that you’re not doing your work. It’s all creativity, and it’s all inspiration. How one directs that energy in a positive way is what keeps them from feeling depressed or left out. You take a bull by the horns and face the situation, as opposed to taking it by the tail. 

WIMITLA: Awesome. Those are all the questions we have. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us!

JIM MESSINA: You got it. Have a good day.