Few musical artists résumés list membership in a band inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Fewer still can lay claim to being a founding member of the seminal band credited with creating Country Rock. Only one artist can include all the above in addition to being one half of the most successful duo of the 1970s.

The Clark Center will present Jim Messina: His Music From Loggins & Messina, Poco and Buffalo Springfield on August 10 at 8 p.m. at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts.

A supremely talented guitarist, Messina began working with the legendary band Buffalo Springfield in 1966 as a recording engineer on their second album Buffalo Springfield Again. He eventually replaced Bruce Palmer as the band's bass player.

When Buffalo Springfield disbanded, Messina and fellow band member Richie Furay,  joined forces to form Poco. The band's aptly titled 1969 debut Pickin' Up The Pieces is the only debut album ever to receive a perfect rating from Rolling Stone magazine.

The landmark album laid the blueprint for the then new musical genre uniting country with rock music and it blazed the pathway for future multi-million selling artists like the Eagles.
 
In November of 1970, Messina opened up his living room to record a number of compositions for a promising young songwriter named Kenny Loggins who let Messina "sit in" on the session. The album Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In was released one year later in November of 1971 and an accidental duo was born.

After five years and eight albums, Loggins and Messina sold 16 million records, become one of rock's biggest live draws, and cemented their legacy as one of the most successful recording duos ever. Following the split with Loggins, Messina recorded four critically acclaimed solo albums.
 
Now, nearly 45 years after first stepping into the studio with Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay to engineer Buffalo Springfield Again, Messina is hitting the road with guitar in hand to tell the stories and sing the songs that made Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and Loggins & Messina, iconic American groups.

Tickets for Jim Messina: His Music From Loggins & Messina, Poco and Buffalo Springfield are on sale now from $32 to $45. Call (805) 489-9444 for tickets or visit the Clark Center Box Office at 487 Fair Oaks Ave., Arroyo Grande. 

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit the Clark Center website at www.clarkcenter.org.