Rock Candy

KENNY LOGGINS
6 p.m., Riverfest Amphitheater. $10-$99.

Kenny Loggins kicks off “Music in the Park,” a new concert series in the Riverfest Amphitheater that's piggybacking on the success of “Movies in the Park.” Presented by Chesapeake Energy (which, among Fayetteville Shale drillers, has been the most eager to engender public good will), the series runs for two weeks (see our Calendar for more info), and all the shows, save this one, are free. But $10 for Kenny Loggins? That's a steal. He's given smooth pop music at least four phases of awesomeness. First, as a songwriter, working for a $100 a week, he wrote the greatest Winnie the Pooh song of all time, “House at Pooh Corner,” initially made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Then, on the strength of that lite rock jam and others written for NGDB, he attracted the attention of Jim Messina, late of Poco and Buffalo Springfield, and the two formed Loggins and Messina, the softest rockin'est duo of the mid-'70s. When egos grew beyond the mutual joy of writing ballads about livin' free and easy and ladies with angry eyes, the duo split and Loggins tapped into the raw edge of '80s commercial rock, scoring hits with theme songs to your favorite movies of the decade: “I'm Alright” (from “Caddyshack”), “Footloose” (from “Footloose”), “Danger Zone” and “Playing with the Boys” (from “Top Gun”), and “Nobody's Fool” (from “Caddyshack II”). He's stayed active since; though, aside from appearing on that summer reality staple, “Don't Forget the Lyrics!” in July and being the father of Crosby Loggins, the winner of children-of-musicians reality contest “Rock the Cradle,” you probably haven't noticed. The most recent phase of smooth pop awesomeness: Inspiring the hilarious web series “Yacht Rock,” the stories behind some of the greatest smooth pop songs of all-time. Go there now: yachtrock.com.