Crosby Loggins Tells it Like it Is by Julia Berlin

Crosby Loggins, visiting GRAMMY Camp® for an Artist Story Panel, talked to the Music Journalism/Concert Promotion students before heading to the camp-wide discussion. So just what has Loggins been up too since signing to Jive Records as the winner of MTV’s “Rock the Cradle?” A show he turned down three times before he decided to get on board. Whether you know him from his famous dad, Kenny Loggins, from seeing him win MTV’s progeny superstar show, or maybe you and him just happen to go way back to the good old days before he started playing music, you may not fully perceive just what inspires this young and rising artist.

Question: Do your hobbies and outside interests such as religion and watching the Discovery Channel have an influence on your music?
Answer: I don’t think that there’s anyway that an artist’s outside actives couldn’t have an influence in some way or another. Most of my hobbies don’t seem to directly influence my music to me, but I know that they do. Subconsciously, my views and whatever my personal views are on religion, theology, and the world in general make their way into my music. When I try to get away from simply boy girl themes in songwriting one of the themes I like the most to work with is life and secret to life and what are you gonna do to get yourself together.


Question: What, if anything, is your biggest challenge as an artist?
Answer: My biggest challenge as an artist is just conquering self-doubt in a general sense. And I don't think that ever goes away. I don't think you wake up one day and stop critiquing your own work. Especially coming from a background where I was raised in music, I'm very critical of my own work. Managing that inner voice is always something that will be part of my wok as an artist. I think it's a good thing to point out that that's very universal, everybody has that and it kind of doesn't matter what you do. Whether you're a chiropractor or a rock star you're going to have similar doubts about your ability to accomplish what you set out to do.

Question: So, you were on “Rock the Cradle,” but I heard that you turned it down three times before you finally agreed. Why did you turn it down before and why did you agree?

Answer: I turned it down before because I’m pretty serious about music. It’s an art form that affects me deeply [and] I don’t generally consider reality television the best way for people to discover my music. [But] it also was a tremendous opportunity. The music business has really shifted in the last five or so years. The biggest radio station has become television. That’s been a challenge for a lot of artist who don’t see themselves in a frame of being visual celebrities. I was really interested in sound and the people I was most inspired by when I was a kid weren’t given visual faces. So I never really knew what they looked like. I had a lot of apprehension on being involved with “Rock the Cradle” because of the obvious risk on being on a reality TV show. Those are some of the reasons I turned it down. The reason I took it was because of the opportunity. I wasn’t quite as good as Mr. David Cook, but I kind of became an overnight household name. That’s a huge leg up. And I learned a lot. I recognized at the last moment that the show would be a really big personal challenge. It’s harder than being on the GRAMMYS®, where you know what’s going to happen. This is a live television show where you don’t know what will happen.
Question: What are some of your musical inspirations that affect your music?
Answer: Some of my biggest inspirations are generally early 70’s singer/songwriters such as Jackson Brown and James Taylor. They pretty directly affect and influence my music because I write in a similar name. It’s not like I was really into show tunes as a kid and now I’m into rock music; my musical influence is pretty direct.