Blue Sky Riders Coming to Poway, 9/20

Grammy® Award winning singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins has joined forces with Nashville songsmiths Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman to form a new band, Blue Sky Riders. Together, Blue Sky Riders craft tightly woven songs that combine dazzling harmonies with elements of country, pop and Americana for a sound Billboard Magazine says "defies genre classification." Poway OnStage (formerly the Poway Center for the Peforming Arts Foundation) is pleased to feature Blue Sky Riders in a concert celebrating our 25th Anniversary Season.

Blue Sky Riders will perform Sunday, September 20th at 7:00 pm at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. The show is part of a string of West Coast dates that see the band playing San Juan Capistrano, Malibu and more. Huffington Post describes Blue Sky Riders as "overwhelmingly jubilant, at times youthfully defiant, but always a delicious blend of stunning harmonies - familiar enough to warm your heart, yet new enough to be exciting and fresh."

Adult tickets range from $49 to $69. Senior tickets are $42-$59, and GEICO Youth Tickets (for ages 12 and under) are $25 -$35 with purchase of an adult ticket. Group discounts are available for groups of 10 or more, by calling 858.668.4797. Add Dinner on the Plaza to your evening for $28, and make it a date night in Poway.

Tickets are available online at www.powayonstage.org and through the box office, which is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, and two hours before curtain. The 800-seat Center is located at 15498 Espola Rd., at the corner of Titan Way in Poway.

The creative spark that turned into Blue Sky Riders was struck when two veteran singer/songwriters worked on their first song together. "The best part," says Kenny Loggins of that meeting with Gary Burr as he wrote for How About Now, his well-received 2008 release, "was that when we sang together, we sounded like brothers. The last time I experienced that kind of blend was with Jimmy Messina in 1971."

Loggins, one of the most successful and recognizable voices in popular music throughout the '70s and '80s, called Burr, one of Nashville's most accomplished writers, and asked if he'd like to form a band. When Loggins suggested they look for a third, female voice, Burr said "I've got the perfect person - Georgia Middleman. She's the best I've ever worked with." Loggins flew to Nashville and the three sat down to write. "What a meeting!" says Loggins. "We wrote our first song and were singing with a three-part blend that comes once in a lifetime."

With that, Blue Sky Riders was a reality. Middleman, also a renowned Nashville singer- songwriter, says the experience has reminded her of the Joseph Campbell line, "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." "I'm definitely looking bliss in the eye right now," she says.

For Loggins, Blue Sky Riders is a new creative step forward in a career filled with magic moments. His hits, early on as half of Loggins and Messina and then as a solo artist, include "Danny's Song," "House at Pooh Corner," "Whenever I Call You Friend" (with Stevie Nicks) and "This Is It," which earned Loggins a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal. Loggins' music also includes a series of movie theme songs, including "I'm Alright" (Caddyshack), "Footloose" (Footloose), "Danger Zone" (Top Gun), and "Nobody's Fool" (Caddyshack II), as well as AC smashes including "Conviction of the Heart," "The Real Thing," "If You Believe" and "For the First Time." His songs have been covered by many artists including Barbara Streisand and Lynn Anderson, among others.

Gary Burr has been named Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP, Billboard and NSAI. His songwriting talents have produced such hits as Juice Newton's "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me," Conway Twitty's "That's My Job," and Wynonna's "To Be Loved By You." His songs have been covered by LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Garth Brooks and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others. He has written and performed with Ringo Starr, had a worldwide hit with the Ricky Martin/Christina Aguilera smash "Nobody Wants to be Lonely," and topped the charts with songs for Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken of American Idol.

Georgia Middleman was still a teenager when she began opening for artists like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Drawn to Nashville's creative energy, she quickly landed a publishing deal with Polygram and released the well-received Endless Possibilities on Giant Records. She wrote Keith Urban's 2010 chart-topper "I'm In" and singles including Tracy Lawrence's "It's All How You Look At It" and Sarah Buxton's "Innocence." Her songs have been recorded by Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Joe Nichols, among many others.

Blue Sky Riders has released their debut album, Finally Home, on their own record label, 3Dream Records on January 29, 2013.

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