yacht rock kenny loggins

Sail away with Kenny Loggins & Christopher Cross during their concert cruise

Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross performing live on a boat? You’ve yacht to be kidding me!

Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross performing live on a boat? You’ve yacht to be kidding me! SiriusXM celebrated the summer season with the two soft-rock legends during a special invitation-only concert cruise for SiriusXM listeners — airing on Yacht Rock Radio (Ch. 14)   and available to stream anytime on the SXM App .

SiriusXM Presents Yacht Rock the Boat with Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross features Loggins and Cross performing their smoothest hits for fans as they set sail around New York City on the Horizon’s Edge yacht.

Yacht Rock Radio features smooth-sailing soft rock from the late ’70s and early ’80s by artists like Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, Toto, America, Ambrosia and more. It’s the kind of rock that doesn’t rock the boat. Yacht Rock Radio will be available all summer long from June 1 through September 5 on SiriusXM radios (Ch. 14) and on the SXM App . The channel is also available year-round on SiriusXM Channel 311.

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Kenny Loggins talks 'Top Gun,' the return of 'Danger Zone' and writing his new memoir

For Kenny Loggins , writing his memoir was “a cross between therapy and deposition.”

The book, out this month, challenged him to remember anecdotes about his excessively fertile music career: As a folk-pop troubadour with Jim Messina in the ’70s, undeniable czar of movie soundtracks in the '80s, thoughtful environmentalist in the ’90s and yacht-rock hero of the current day .

But “Still Alright" (Hachette, 304 pp), co-written with Jason Turbow, isn’t just a musical chronicle of the guy as famous for “Footloose” as he is “Danny’s Song” and the everlasting “House at Pooh Corner.”

Tales of drug use and salty language throughout are the inverse of Loggins’ image of the blazer-sporting adult contemporary soft-rocker. He jokes to USA TODAY that he hoped to splatter that impression with sardonic appearances on   the animated TV series “Archer” and “Family Guy” over the past decade.

To promote the book, which he started writing in late 2020, Loggins will pop into a few West Coast book stores this month for signings. And on July 15-16, he'll  play the Hollywood Bowl with Messina for the duo’s 50th anniversary, which Loggins confirms will be the last time they play together.

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“It’s hard to believe from where I’m sitting – how did I get this old?” Loggins, 74, asks rhetorically. “It happens so fast when you’re looking back.”

In a recent interview, the musician candidly expounded on some of the topics in his book – Michael McDonald, “Top Gun” – and explained his philosophy for a great memoir:

Question: So that “Top Gun” sequel seems to be popular. What's your reaction to the renewed interest in “Danger Zone”?

Kenny Loggins: The word dumbfounded is appropriate. We knew something big was going to happen ( with the new movie ), but it’s just way huger than any of us imagined. When Tom (Cruise) told me he wanted to use the song (in the sequel), I was skeptical at first because he’s a sweet guy who is generous with everyone, so I thought it might just be him being nice. But he genuinely meant it, and said "'Top Gun' wouldn’t be 'Top Gun' without 'Danger Zone.'"

Q: Are you feeling content about the memoir, now that it's out?

Loggins: I was very careful to tell the truth, but in a way that people wouldn’t be mad at me. I didn’t want Jimmy (Messina) going, ‘(expletive) you,’ and my ex-wives, I let them both read their chapters before submitting (it).

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Q: In the afterword, you note that you really didn’t want to write that part of the book because it felt like something was ending.

Loggins:  I feel like I’ve turned a page and am ready to step into more activity, creatively. Like a lot of people, 2020 knocked the wind out of my sails with nowhere to go, no audience. (My girlfriend) Lisa (Hawkins) and I would ride e-bikes, and my quest was to find different doughnut shops. I gained the COVID 10 (pounds)! I stopped moving in a creative direction, and I felt the difference emotionally and mentally. I need to write a little bit at least once a week. Something happens to the brain when you’re in a creative space and without it, I feel melancholy.

Q: You write a lot in the book about your partnership with Michael McDonald. What is your relationship like now?

Loggins: We’re still great friends and appreciate the history we created, and he’s OK with the yacht-rock thing. We did a show at the Hollywood Bowl (in 2018) and there were a lot of yachting caps in the audience, and that’s fine. It sort of defined the stuff we were doing in a way that was appreciated.

Q: Do you feel like Michael was – and maybe still is – your musical soulmate?

Loggins: I think in some ways, yeah, I would give you that one. It might be a little overly dramatic, but we are definitely (simpatico) musically. Every time we get together, we write something musically neither would have done alone. I can’t explain it, but I think we didn’t really exploit our opportunities in the ’80s. I wish we would have written 100 songs and let 80 of them suck. When there’s chemistry there, don’t waste it.

The Doobie Brothers are back: Michael McDonald and band in peak form on new tour

Q: Fans will be interested to learn that “This Is It” was born from a conversation you had with your father before he underwent surgery.

Loggins: Michael and I initially thought ‘This Is It’ was just a love song. But that muse, the bridge between Michael and Kenny, is the third entity in the room, and that entity insisted that the song be about more. Once I had that conversation with my dad and brought the ‘You have a choice about how this will go’ line to Michael, it just fell out of us.

Q: Did anything frustrate you while writing the book?

Loggins: I rewrote a lot of what Jason got from interviewing me. I’d tell him, you’re using appropriate grammar and I don’t talk like that! I’ve read Mary Karr’s book ("The Art of Memoir") and you really get the idea that the voice has to be unique and that the stories have to lay out the way I would tell my friends at a dinner party. That’s how Jason and I really worked together well – he’d lay the stories out and I put in my own exclamations and admissions … I just finished my audiobook two weeks ago, and it was harder than I expected. I would go to the iPad and color different words for degrees of inflection. You tend to go into autopilot and then you’re not sounding like the person at the dinner party.

Great music book reads: Dig into The Doobie Brothers, Notorious B.I.G.

How Kenny Loggins Became The King of '80s Movie Soundtracks

By kenneth partridge | may 19, 2022.

Most musicians would be content to shape the sound of pop in one decade—like how Elvis Presley shook up the ’50s or The Beatles owned the ’60s. But not Kenny Loggins. After helping to invent the supremely chill, lightly funky sound known as “ yacht rock ” in the ’70s, Loggins went full speed into the ’80s and took the highway to the danger zone of movie soundtracks . The gambit paid off in a big way.

Between 1980 and 1988, Loggins scored four top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100—all of them from movie soundtracks. The three films he’s most closely associated with— Caddyshack , Footloose , and Top Gun —rank among the decade’s most iconic and beloved movies . (Two have even been rebooted in the 21st century.) Loggins's songs weren’t just popular because the movies were huge; his music helped to make these blockbusters what they were.

The Yacht Years

Born in Everett, Washington, on January 7, 1948, Loggins moved around with his family throughout his childhood before settling in Alhambra, California. He developed an early love for music , and in the late ’60s, the budding singer-songwriter played with the bands Gator Creek and Second Helping. (Check out the latter’s garage-punk ripper “ Let Me In .”) Loggins later began writing songs for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and eventually linked up with guitarist Jim Messina—previously of Poco and Buffalo Springfield—to form the duo Loggins and Messina. 

Loggins and Messina released six albums between 1971 and 1976 and notched three top 20 hits, including 1972’s “ Your Mama Don’t Dance ,” a No. 4 smash hit later covered by ’80s hair-metal heroes Poison. The pair split up in 1976 and Loggins soon found success on his own. “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend,’” his 1978 duet with Stevie Nicks, reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, while 1979’s gloriously yachty “ This Is It ” narrowly missed the top 10. (He also co-wrote the 1979 Doobie Brothers triumph “ What a Fool Believes ,” the mother of all yacht-rock songs.) Little did Loggins know he was about to have his life changed by a gopher puppet.

Shacking Up

Another thing Loggins did in the ’70s was write “I Believe In Love,” which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1976 film version of A Star Is Born , starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. That film was produced by Jon Peters, who began working on a golf comedy called Caddyshack around 1980. Peters asked Loggins if he’d write a song for the film, and Loggins agreed to watch a rough cut. Even though the movie didn’t yet feature the wily gopher that would memorably torment Bill Murray’s character, Loggins loved it. “I laughed my ass off,” he told American Songwriter .

Loggins was tasked with writing a song for the opening scene, where the film’s protagonist, the teenage caddy Danny (Michael O'Keefe), rides through the suburbs on his bicycle. As a placeholder, the director stuck in Bob Dylan ’s “Gotta Serve Somebody,” a choice that Loggins found interesting. “From that, I got the idea they wanted to portray [Danny] as a bit of a rebel, even though he had not yet achieved that particular character,” Loggins said. That led Loggins to write “ I’m Alright ,” which features the chorus: “I’m alright / Nobody worry ’bout me / Why you got to give me a fight?” He was trying to get into the character’s psychology.

“I thought that the angle that the director was using was cross-grained,” Loggins said. “This really banal opening scene with an edgier piece of music. That worked totally well. If I could nail that, then it would have a bigger appeal.”

Loggins's instincts were right on the money. “I’m Alright” became the biggest solo hit of the musician's career to date, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Caddyshack fared well at the box office, earning $40 million, and Loggins rightfully saw the whole thing as a positive experience. He wanted more of that sweet movie action.

Everybody Cut Footloose

A few years later, Loggins agreed to help another friend who was making a movie. This time, the buddy was Dean Pitchford, who had co-authored “Don’t Fight It,” Loggins's hit 1982 duet with Steve Perry of Journey. Pitchford was writing a screenplay inspired by the town of Elmore City, Oklahoma, which had outlawed dancing in 1898. When local teens finally compelled the school board to overturn the rule in 1980, the story made headlines around the world. Pitchford came up with a great title, Footloose , and enlisted Loggins to help him write the title song.

The pair worked in Lake Tahoe, where Loggins was recuperating from a broken rib and getting ready for a tour around Asia. They finished “Footloose” in a single night, with both men kicking in lyrics. After Pitchford came up with “Ooh-we, Marie / Shake it, shake it for me,” Loggins contributed “Woah, Milo.” So was born the cheeseball pseudo-rockabilly earworm that plays over the opening credits of Footloose . Audiences ate it up. The movie hauled in $80 million at the box office, and the soundtrack—which also includes the Loggins tune “I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)”—became a genuine phenomenon. 

“Footloose” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and MTV played the music video—featuring plenty of footage of Kevin Bacon dancing—around the clock. “It cemented the movie and the music—one infuses the other,” Loggins said in an interview with the Library of Congress . “You can’t hear the song today and not see that scene in your head.” The soundtrack also yielded another No. 1 hit in Deniece Williams’s “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.” The album spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200. 

MTV certainly played a role in the success of Footloose . The network was at the height of its cultural influence, and it was redefining how pop music was used in film and television. But Loggins believes there’s another reason for the enduring popularity of the story, which spawned a 1998 musical and a 2011 big-screen reboot. “The film is about personal freedom,” Loggins said [ PDF ]. “It speaks to that freedom, to the young, to that ’rebel without a cause’ and teens against the system which, you know, goes back to Elvis. The film—and the song—speaks to that element, the willingness to take anything on. It’s a universal theme.”

Shovin’ Into Overdrive

The last of Loggins’s colossal ’80s film hits came with a song for which he didn’t earn writing credit. In the lead-up to the release of 1986’s Top Gun —a Reagan-era action drama about a bunch of hotshot U.S. Navy pilots with cool nicknames—Loggins was among the many rockers invited to attend a screening and submit songs for the movie. Loggins figured everyone would try to come up with something for the flashy opening sequence, so instead, he focused on the scene where Tom Cruise and company play volleyball. 

Again, Loggins had the right idea. His “ Playing with the Boys ” was selected for the soundtrack, and while he was recording the song, he got a call from Giorgio Moroder, the producer and songwriter known for pioneering electronic music in the ’70s through his work with Donna Summer. Moroder was doing his own Top Gun track, the guitar-driven pop-rock scorcher “ Danger Zone ,” and he needed someone to sing the thing pronto. 

Several other artists—including Toto, Starship, and REO Speedwagon—had been considered for the song. But their lawyers evidently couldn’t close the deal, and that left Loggins to swoop into the studio and record his vocals in a single day. He drew inspiration from one of the all-time greats. “I was into Tina Turner a lot in her comeback era,” Loggins said “‘Danger Zone’ was me doing Tina.”

Loggins also claims to have written some of the lyrics and changed some of the chords, but he says Moroder was reluctant to grant him writing credit for reasons having to do with Oscar eligibility. (Tom Whitlock is also credited as a writer on “Danger Zone.”) So Loggins took a piece of the publishing instead. This likely proved lucrative.

Top Gun surpassed $180 million at the box office and “Danger Zone”—again, aided by an MTV-friendly music video—peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack, which also included Berlin’s chart-topping “Take My Breath Away,” soared to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. While “Take My Breath Away” was technically the bigger hit, “Danger Zone” has arguably enjoyed more staying power. Top Gun: Maverick , the long-awaited 2022 sequel starring Tom Cruise , features “Danger Zone” right in the opening sequence.

The King of Soundtracks

The trifecta of “I’m Alright,” “Footloose,” and “Danger Zone” established Loggins as the “king of ‘80s movie soundtracks,” a title he has come to embrace. As an encore, he proved his worth by notching two more hits associated with total box-office flops. “ Meet Me Halfway ,” from 1987’s much-maligned Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling flick Over the Top , reached No. 11 on the Hot 100, while the following year’s “ Nobody’s Fool ,” from the ill-fated Caddyshack II , crept inside the Top 10, reaching No. 8.

By the early ’90s, Loggins’s hit-making days had come to an end. But he’s continued making music into the new century. In 2021, he also released At the Movies , a special vinyl-only collection of his soundtrack hits, complete with a new version of “Playing with the Boys,” recorded with Australian artist Butterfly Boucher. 

In an interview on the red carpet for Top Gun: Maverick , Loggins spoke about why modern movie soundtracks don’t pack the same punch they did in the ’80s, when he was flying higher than an F-14 Tomcat.

“It’s partly because we've been inundated with pop music in movies, to the point where it’s not as different,” Loggins said . “When we first did it, it was different. Movies weren’t really using a lot of rock ’n’ roll. It made it special, and it made the movie identity as a teen or 20-something movie.”

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Christopher Cross and Kenny Loggins Played Yacht Rock … on an Actual Yacht

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

At a time when the “yacht rock” sound remains beloved, two titans of the genre teamed up last night (June 13) in New York for a concept so perfect, it’s hard to believe it hadn’t been done before. Christopher Cross and Kenny Loggins each played sets on the actual yacht The Horizon’s Edge as part of SiriusXM’s exclusive “Yacht Rock the Boat” event, soundtracking a three-hour sunset cruise around the west side of Manhattan for a few hundred subscribers and VIP guests. And yes: captain’s hats were provided upon entry.

Cross, 71, remains a figurehead of yacht rock thanks to his 1980 classic “Sailing,” but he is still working his way back from COVID-19-related illnesses that left him unable to walk or play guitar for an extended period of time. Nodding to the theme of the evening with his Steely Dan Aja t-shirt, Cross often yielded vocals to a trio of backing singers last night, but shredded several guitar solos as the crack rhythm section of Keith Carlock (Steely Dan) and Will Lee (the “Late Night With David Letterman” band) kept things grooving behind him.

Other highlights of his performance included the funky “Baby It’s All You,” Cross’ immortal theme from the movie Arthur (truly a meta experience to hear while boating under the moon in New York City…), “Ride Like the Wind” (which sadly did not feature Michael McDonald reprising his guest vocal from the original or Rick Moranis doing his best McDonald impression ) and a stripped-down encore of “Think of Laura.”

Cross is in the midst of a pretty cool Beatles-themed tour in tandem with Todd Rundgren, former Moody Blues/Wings member Denny Laine, ex-Chicago vocalist Jason Scheff and what’s left of the the ’70s band Badfinger called “It Was 50 Years Ago Today,” at which the musicians sprinkle songs from Revolver and Rubber Soul into sets featuring their own material.

Loggins, 74, is back in the spotlight now thanks to Top Gun: Maverick , which once again features his hit “Danger Zone” from the original 1986 film. He also has an excellent new autobiography , Still Alright , out today, in which he shares tales of working on Footloose and Caddyshack , recording with Michael Jackson and Stevie Nicks and suing Garth Brooks for plagiarism. On the yacht, the classics flowed like fine white wine, from early Loggins & Messina material like “Danny’s Song” and “House on Pooh Corner” to “This Is It,” “I’m Alright” and, naturally, both “Footloose” and “Danger Zone.”

One of the more intriguing moments came when Loggins played the original version of “What a Fool Believes” that he co-wrote with McDonald, which was actually released prior to the one The Doobie Brothers turned into a hit in 1979. Although it sounded quite different without McDonald’s vocal contributions, the track was a reminder of how the tentacles of yacht rock reach far into the annals of pop music, even to this day.

Loggins is supporting Still Alright with a handful of intimate shows in the next couple of weeks, and will also reunite with Jim Messina for two Loggins & Messina performances July 15-16 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As for the Yacht Rock the Boat performances, they will air (where else?) on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Yacht Rock Radio, which is available through Sept. 5 on SiriusXM radios (ch. 14) and on the SXM app. The station also lives year-round on SiriusXM channel 311.

The post Christopher Cross and Kenny Loggins Played Yacht Rock … on an Actual Yacht appeared first on SPIN .

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Defining 'yacht rock' once and for all with the genre's creators

Jd ryznar and dave lyons coined the joke genre while making the mid-2000s comedic web-series of the same name.

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JD Ryznar and Dave Lyons are the co-creators of the mid-2000s comedic web-series Yacht Rock.  

While the joke genre they coined led to a legitimate smooth-music renaissance in pop culture, it has also led to a distorted definition of what yacht rock is all about.

The pair join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about setting the record straight with this week's launch of their podcast Yacht or Nyacht , where they'll adjudicate which songs belong to the yacht rock canon using a scientific scoring system.

WATCH | Yacht Rock Episode 1 :

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts .

Interview with JD Ryznar and Dave Lyons produced by Stuart Berman.

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• Music Interviews

Plugged In: Yacht Rock Revue's dream tour with Kenny Loggins swings home to Georgia. 'It's a rush!'

May 10, 2023 12:06 PM

• Kristi York Wooten

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Welcome to Plugged In, our digital interview series on GPB.

GPB's Kristi York Wooten talks with members of Yacht Rock Revue, an Atlanta band known for playing hits of the 1970s, '80s and beyond. The band is currently on tour with one of its musical heroes, Kenny Loggins, and will perform May 13 at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta. Frontmen Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson are here to talk about this once-in-a-lifetime gig.

Kristi York Wooten: Welcome, Nick and Peter. How are you? 

Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson: Great. Thanks for having us, Kristi.

Kristi York Wooten: Excited to talk to you. So I want to get started with something that's in the news today, and that is that while you were on the Kenny Loggins tour in Texas, you had some things stolen, your instruments and things. Do you want to give us a little bit of an update on what happened? 

Nick Niespodziani: Yeah, we came off stage with Kenny Loggins in Fort Worth on Friday, our first show with Kenny, and it was amazing, incredible energy from the crowd, everything you would hope for. And we woke up the next morning to discover our entire trailer had been stolen off the back of one of our vans. It was wild. Very high moment, followed by a very low moment. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So I know that's disconcerting for musicians to not be with their instruments, some of which I believe you told me earlier you've had since high school or college. So what are you going to do about the next couple of shows? I know you said you might borrow some instruments and things like that to get those shows done, and until you find out what happens to the others. 

Nick Niespodziani:  Yeah, the show goes on. 

Peter Olson:  That's right. Yeah. We've had incredible support from the musician industry. All of our friends have reached out not just to offer, you know, emotional support, but lots of offers to borrow gear, anything that we need to. To keep the show going. Just Saturday night, the night after we had the gear stolen, we were fortunate in that another band was on the bill and they allowed us to play some of their gear in order to make things happen. So we cobbled it together with some rented pieces and pieces borrowed from other musicians. And that's how we'll make it happen here until we can get things replaced.

Nick Niespodziani:  And I just want to make the point, you know, we're lucky we have insurance and we're also lucky that we're big enough and our organization is established enough that we can take a hit like this and keep going. Like, if this happened to an indie rock band who's not playing on the same scale as we are, it can be a deathblow to a band. So just next time you see this happen to a smaller band, find a way to get out there and support them. Like, we're lucky we're going to be okay. But not everyone is so lucky. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Good advice. So take us back to the beginning. Nick, we'll start with you. Take us back to the beginning: You're putting your band together. It had to stem from a childhood love of these — these songs that you heard on F.M. radio in the '70s or '80s. So can you take us back to the beginning of the idea for the band? 

Nick Niespodziani:  I mean, the band kind of came about on accident. It was never intended to be a band. It was supposed to be a one-off show that we were doing in a series of other one-off shows, and this one-off show connected with people in a completely different way than any of the other ones did. And ever since that moment, we saw the way it connected with the audience and the feelings that this music gave people. And we've been kind of chasing the head of that snake ever since. 

Kristi York Wooten:  And what year did you start, Peter? 

Peter Olson:  2007 was the first Yacht Rock show. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So tell me a little bit about when  The New York Times featured you in a 2020 story about the pandemic. You guys were one of the first bands out there playing in that sort of bizarre moment of people driving cars to watch a concert in their cars in a field. Can you talk a little bit about that experience, each one of you? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Man. That was one of the most nerve-wracking weeks leading up to a concert that I've ever experienced, because the week before that, another artist, I can't remember his name, it was a country artist, had thrown a concert that was not, like, COVID-friendly and had just gotten lambasted all across the media. And, you know, we were taking it very seriously and the last thing we wanted was for our one New York Times article to be about how we were going against COVID protocols or whatever. So we had extensive talks with Live Nation to make sure that this was going to be actually a safe situation and they were going to enforce it. And it all turned out okay. But it was very nerve-wracking. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah, and it was, I think, in normal times everyone was so spread out and it was we were playing to a giant field of people that were so far away that it would be hard to harness that energy on stage and give it back. But because of the circumstances of coming from isolation and quarantine, it was like just the honking of horns from all the cars and everything. It was like we were just feeding off of that, that there were real people in front of us.

Kristi York Wooten:  That's great. 

Nick Niespodziani:  I forgot about the horns, though. That was how the encore was asked for. It was like a choir of car horns. Yeah. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So you've kind of experienced the gamut of what live performance is in ... the age of streaming. So around the time you all started your rock revue is when things like Spotify were becoming popular. So tell me a little bit about how live performance itself has changed since then — or has it? How have things changed over the course of ... obviously you've made it through the pandemic … and here we are at a new phase. How has either your audience or the way you approach music … has any of that changed since you started? Do people request different things from you? Do different songs get bigger cheers, anything like that? 

Nick Niespodziani:  I mean, I think part of what we do is definitely emblematic of the Spotify era in that we are like a playlist, an infinite playlist of songs from an era. And that's an experience that people are looking for now. But I think, you know, whether we're talking about our first shows when we were starting out, or whether we're talking about the live streaming during the pandemic or everything that's happened since then, the one constant threat is that people want that person-to-person connection of live music. And that's been our livelihood. You know, we never made a bunch of money off of selling records so those changes to the business haven't affected us. And I think that, you know, whatever changes are coming in the future, that person-to-person like live music connection is the thing. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah. I feel like from a performance standpoint, we kind of picked up where we left off. Not a lot changed. It's amazing how long ago that the pandemic phase can feel. But it was like when we started playing again, it was just like we had just had our last gig a month before. But the thing that was really different was that we kind of were at a phase in our career where we were garnering a national fanbase, and over the course of the pandemic, they had this opportunity to connect with each other via the livestream concerts that we did. So when we came out back out on tour, there was already this connection, not necessarily with the — well, there was a deeper connection with the band and our fans, but also the fan-to-fan connection was just unbelievable. And we see that live on, which is really cool. 

Kristi York Wooten:  That's a good point. So you talked about your live show being a playlist. So let's talk about this playlist. So how did you first come up with your very first gig of which songs you were going to choose? And let's tell the audience to what your personal definition of yacht rock is. I asked a member of Toto what his definition of Yacht Rock is, and he said, "I don't know because I don't have a yacht yet." But you can tell us how you came to love bands like Toto, artists like Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers, and how you kind of put that first playlist together and how, that has grown or changed over the years as well. I know that that Yacht Rock has now been expanded to allow some songs from '90s and 2000s to sneak in a little bit.

Nick Niespodziani : Yacht Rock is now whatever we say it as far as we're concerned. [Laughs]

Kristi York Wooten:  You own it. 

Nick Niespodziani : Yeah, well, you know, there's no point in a limited definition for us because our whole thing is having fun with people at the concert and like, saying that Yacht Rock can only be made between 1976 and 1984 in Southern California doesn't really, like do anything for us or for our fans, you know. I mean, that is the that is the center of it. That's where it starts. But it goes out from there. And Yacht Rock is really less, to me, of a genre than it is a vibe. And if you set that vibe, then anything can be Yacht Rock.

Peter Olson:  Yeah, people like to put those parameters on like the date and where it was recorded and that kind of thing. But you don't do that to any other genre. It's not like grunge had to come from Seattle, right? Grunge was made all over the country. It was just a style of music. It's a feeling or a general sound. 

Nick Niespodziani : It's kind of like basketball, like it's fun to talk about, like whether, you know, Kobe's Lakers would have beaten Jordan's Bulls. But in the end, you just want to go watch people play basketball and have fun. And that's kind of my view on the whole ‘what is Yacht Rock?’ and ‘what is not Yacht Rock’ debate? 

Kristi York Wooten:  So you're out on tour with Kenny Loggins. Tell us about the first gig. Tell us about what went over well in your show. And then you said that you were able to talk with [Kenny Loggins] as well. So tell me a little bit about that first night on tour with Kenny Loggins. Peter, we'll start with you. 

Peter Olson:  It was the first time I think we all had butterflies in quite a while going up on stage, but it was incredible. It was at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, and it was a packed house, and we had a little bit of arena experience, but not like this. And so when we got up there and I think we kind of were all in our heads a little bit through the first few songs and a little nervous. But once we found our flow, it felt really good, and it was a lot of fun and then it was over like that. Our set was 45 minutes that night and it just came and went so fast. But it was a rush.

Nick Niespodziani : It was interesting because most bands who've gotten to the level that we're at spent a lot of time on the road opening up for other bands, right? Like, that's pretty common. That's what you do. And when we when we were in an indie rock band, we would play 45-minute sets opening up for, you know, whoever. But this band had actually never opened up for someone else before, so that was a new experience. And we were also — another thing we haven't done a long time, we were playing in front of a bunch of people who we needed to win over. Like we're, you know, at this point we're playing places like Chastain headlining ourselves and everyone is there to see us and we've been there already and they've bought into what we're doing. So it was kind of like being the young buck again out there, like having to prove ourselves in an opening set. It was unfamiliar territory and a lot of that kind of like nervous energy came out, I think, in a pretty positive way. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah, and we're taking that two-hour playlist that we're so used to delivering. And when laying it down, when you talk about what is the Yacht Rock sound, like doing what we're best at, we had a limited time to, to deliver that.

Kristi York Wooten:  So what songs can folks expect when they come to Alpharetta next Saturday night? 

Nick Niespodziani:  We won't be playing any Kenny Loggins songs in our set. [Laughs]

Peter Olson:  So we check out what you might call the major boxes mean you can anticipate. Doobie Brothers and Christopher Cross and Toto. We can't give away the set list. I can’t tell you everything. 

Kristi York Wooten:  We’ve got to have some surprises there. You told me earlier that Kenny Loggins had asked you all to be on this tour. That it was a request from him. So how did that feel? 

Nick Niespodziani:  It was so cool. He came up right before we played and introduced himself to all of us and said, ‘You know, I'm really excited to have you guys. And it was my decision to have you on this tour. It wasn't my agent. It wasn't my manager telling me I had to do it. It was it was my decision, because I see the energy that you guys bring, and I want that to be a part of my show.’ And that was really a ‘Wow, we've made it’ kind of moment. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So did you watch from the wings? You watched Kenny from the wings, or were you out in the audience?

Peter Olson:  Oh, yeah. From the wings. We watched the whole show, and it — man, he brings it. He's still incredible.

Nick Niespodziani:  Yeah. If you're out there wondering, ‘Can Kenny Loggins still sing?’ The answer is emphatic, 'Yes!' His voice is money. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Do you have a show highlight from his set list? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Oh, there were several. For me, “Danny’s Song” is always one that gets me because that was one that my dad would play. He’d play those Loggins and Messina records in the garage when I was a kid. But then [Kenny] closed the show with “Forever,” which is a song that I hadn't really remembered as well. But then it got to that, that moment where he sings the big “forever” [sings] at the at the end. And he just nailed the note after his whole set. It was ... that one just knocked me back. It was incredible. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah. “Keep the Fire” is one of my favorites. But he touches on, he does the whole span of his career, and he breaks it down and pulls out the acoustic guitar. And not only can the guy sing, but the guy can still wail on the guitar. He's incredible. 

Kristi York Wooten:  And so this tour is going for several months this year. So do you have any plans for. Is it going to Europe or just this is just the North America tour? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Just United States? I don't know. Tell Kenny that he's wanted in Europe because we want to go. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Well, thank you both for being here. Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson from Yacht Rock Revue performing and opening for the first time on a tour when they are used to being headliners. Opening for Kenny Loggins at the Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia, on May 13. Thank you again.

Peter Olson:  Thank you. 

Nick Niespodziani:  See you out there, Atlanta. 

Secondary Content

About the author.

Kristi York Wooten ( she/her ) is a digital editor and journalist based in Atlanta. She works with the GPB radio and digital news teams as an editor, writes and produces features for digital and radio and leads editorial and production for the GPB News Weekend newsletter. Her work appears in  The New York Times ,  The Economist ,  The Atlantic ,  Newsweek, Rolling Stone  and others.

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Finally, a name for that music: “Yacht Rock”

A few little-known facts about singer/songwriter Michael McDonald: Aside from topping the charts in the 1980s, he was a tireless defender and advocate of smooth music. His best friend ...

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A few little-known facts about singer/songwriter Michael McDonald: Aside from topping the charts in the 1980s, he was a tireless defender and advocate of smooth music. His best friend died in a back-alley songwriting contest, and he feuded with one-time songwriting partner Kenny Loggins. Actor Vincent Price, however, forced the two to make amends so they could conjure a spirit to help with the recording of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Sound a bit far-fetched? Rockin’ on the yacht JD Ryznar offers a curated selection of his favorite less-obvious songs of the era “Any World (That I’m Welcome To)” by Steely Dan “Aside from being totally awesome and beautiful, this is one of the first Dan songs to feature Michael McDonald’s huge background vocal power. The presence of McDonald’s voice pretty much legitimizes any song’s Yacht Rock status.” “It Keeps You Runnin’ ” by Carly Simon “This is not only a cover of the Doobie Brothers’ hit, but also actually features the Doobies as the backing band. Still, it’s a totally original take on the song, and a rare example of Yacht Rock female empowerment.” Kenny Loggins’ alternate versions “If you hear a song on a Doobie or Michael McDonald album that was co-written by Kenny Loggins, chances are, Loggins has a version of that song with a classic Loggins twist. Check out Loggin’s versions of the Doobies ‘What a Fool Believes’ and Michael McDonald’s ‘I Gotta Try’ & ‘No Lookin’ Back’ to see what I mean.”

Not to JD Ryznar, the Los Angeles based writer, actor and director who portrays the man with the beard in his series of short films called “Yacht Rock.” The shorts, which have garnered a cult following thanks to their success as part of the Web site Channel 101’s monthly film contests (and subsequent downloads and blog shout-outs), take a look behind the scenes at the creation of the ultra-creamy hits that made folks like McDonald, Loggins and Toto pop stars in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ryznar coined the term “Yacht Rock” after he noticed a series of connections and similarities between Steely Dan and groups like the Doobie Brothers and Toto. Such as:

All of them seemed to share members and collaborate frequently with each other and people like Kenny Loggins. A lot of the music of the era featured albums with guys on boats on the cover and songs about sailing. This music sounds really good on boats because it’s good for relaxing, sitting back and drinking. And so “Yacht Rock” was born. The show (see the full episodes here: www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=152 offers surreal backstories for singles known more for their gentle grooves than any underlying drama. But the series doesn’t attempt to satirize the musicians themselves. Instead, Ryznar takes aim at the songwriting process. “When people want to sit down and write a hit record, they get together and it’s trial and error — not so much fun,” he says. “But if you infuse it with some sort of completely made up fairy tale story, suddenly it becomes a lot more interesting.” This sly reverence for the subject matter gives the show an added nuance. After all, taking potshots at yesterday’s hit makers would be just too easy. But much of the humor also comes from inverting the stereotypical images people have of the musicians in question. “When artists like Hall & Oates and Michael Jackson have such huge personas, you don’t want to just see another impersonation,” says Ryznar. Thus, Hall & Oates become two thuggish trash-talkers from the hard streets of Philadelphia always looking for a fight and Michael Jackson gets portrayed as a brute womanizer. Even Journey front man Steve Perry gets the treatment, showing up in a couple of episodes as a motivational rocker who persuades Kenny Loggins to turn to the hard side. Ryznar’s show has gotten him some notice and even an agent. The moderate success he’s achieved underscores the growing impact that Channel 101 ( www.channel101.com ) has as an important outlet for up and coming talent to showcase material that ordinarily wouldn’t get a cursory glance at major Hollywood studios. Started by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab in 2003, Channel 101 allows anyone to submit a pilot, the best of which are selected and shown at monthly screenings held in Los Angeles. A sister site, www.channel102.net , recently opened up shop in New York. The top five vote-getters each month are added to a category called Primetime and are then allowed to make another episode. This constant influx of submissions means everyone has to keep upping the ante from month to month. While Yacht Rock’s subject matter might make it seem like a strange candidate for such a word-of-mouth following, Ryznar’s idea ended up in the right place at the right time.

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Kenny Loggins Announces Final Tour

Kenny Loggins has announced his final concert tour, which will launch in March.

Loggins' This Is It tour is scheduled to begin on March 10 in Sarasota, Fla. The trek will be spread out over several months, with dates set in April, June, August and October. Yacht Rock Revue will serve as support for six of the 11 total shows.

"It's been an amazing journey since starting with Jimmy Messina in 1971, and I'm fortunate to have had such a long touring career," Loggins said in a press release. "I don't see this as the end of my professional career but certainly a halt to the grind of major touring."

You can view a complete list of concert dates below. Tickets will go on sale on Jan. 20.

"I'll be playing songs that I feel sum up the emotional story of my music," Loggins added. "This will include 90% of the hits and 10 or so percent of the deeper cuts."

Loggins has also specified that there is no pressing reason for the farewell tour, only that "after spending a lifetime on the road, I want to have more time at home."

Kenny Loggins This Is It Tour 2023 March 10 – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall @ Sarasota, FL March 12 – Florida Theatre @ Jacksonville, FL March 26 – Good Life Festival @ Queen Creek, AZ^ April 28 – Dickies Arena @ Fort Worth, TX* April 30 – New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival @ New Orleans, LA^ June 15 – Wolf Trap @ Vienna, VA* June 17 – Virginia Arts Festival @ Williamsburg, VA^* Aug. 17 – Family Arena @ St. Charles, MO* Aug. 19 – Ravinia Festival @ Highland Park, IL^* Oct. 14 - The Mountain Winery @ Saratoga, CA Oct. 27 – YouTube Theater @ Inglewood, CA*

*Yacht Rock Revue is support ^Festival

2023 Rock Tour Preview

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Virginia Gazette News | At Williamsburg Live, see yacht rock legend…

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Virginia gazette news | at williamsburg live, see yacht rock legend kenny loggins on his final tour, kenny loggins, keb’ mo’ and the wood brothers will headline williamsburg’s signature outdoor music event june 16-18..

Williamsburg Live is gearing up for one of its biggest celebrations of live music yet.

The three-day music festival returns June 16 with a lineup that includes American roots band The Wood Brothers, legendary singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins and five-time Grammy Award winner Keb’ Mo’.

For Loggins, who turned 75 in January, the show is part of an extended final bow as he gets ready to retire from touring after a prolific, decadeslong career.

“It’s been quite a while since I (first) hit the road in 1971,” said Loggins in a phone interview. “It’s my last of the solo career tours, as far as I know. I may do a benefit here or there in the future, but right now I just want to close this segment and this part of my life out so I can move onto the next section.”

Loggins said he got his first taste of what a life of retirement might be like in 2020 when COVID closures put a halt to touring around the world.

“I actually got off the road for a year and started to have a home life like I haven’t had in a long time,” he said. “It was such a good time, just my gal and I together, hunkered in, and it felt so great. I thought, this is kind of what retirement will feel like. It kind of put the bug in my head.”

For Virginia Arts Festival Executive Director Rob Cross, having Loggins stop by on his final tour was a can’t-miss opportunity.

“We’re probably one of the smaller venues on this tour, which is kind of exciting that we were able to get a date for Williamsburg,” he said.

The event, which is presented by the Virginia Arts Festival along with the city of Williamsburg and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, will be held on the Lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg June 16-18.

“We’ve got three really great headliners and they all bring something different to the table,” said Cross. “We try to program something that we think will reach a wide area of interest.”

Tickets are still available online at www.vafest.org/williamsburg-live/tickets , over the phone at 757-282-2822 or in-person at the Virginia Arts Festival box office on Bank Street.

On Friday, The Wood Brothers will perform with special guest Shovels & Rope, followed by Loggins and Yacht Rock Revue on Saturday. Wrapping up the weekend Sunday is Keb’ Mo’, whose real name is Kevin Moore, and Peter One.

Loggins is a two-time Grammy winner and earned an Academy Award nomination for his song “Footloose,” which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1984 movie of the same name. In addition to “Footloose,” Loggins has written a number of well-known songs for movies like “Top Gun” and “Caddyshack.” Before embarking on his storied solo career, he was one-half of rock-pop duo Loggins and Messina with Jim Messina.

Moore is an American blues musician who has garnered critical acclaim throughout his long career. He won his first Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album with his 1996 output, “Just Like You.” In 2015, he performed at a special concert hosted by former President Barack Obama, “A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House.”

The Wood Brothers are a three-piece band featuring brother Chris and Oliver Wood and Jano Rix. Before forming their band in the early 2000s, the two Wood brothers pursued music careers independently of each other. They released their first studio album as a group, “Ways Not To Lose,” in 2006.

Since then, they have released eight more albums, including 2023’s “Heart is the Hero,” which was recorded analog to 16-track tape, allowing the members to embrace “the chemistry of their acclaimed live shows by capturing their performances in real-time direct from the studio with nary a computer in sight,” their website reads.

“The live thing is definitely what we’re all about,” said Oliver Wood in a phone interview. “When it comes to recording the music, in most cases, we like to try to capture some of that live energy in the studio as well. … The idea for us when we make recorded music is to really capture a moment rather than construct something one piece at a time.”

Getting out and touring this latest album has been exciting, Wood said, not just because of the new music but also because touring has bounced back so well.

“Touring has been going strong now for a year and a half, with sort of a gradual build,” he said. “Last summer was a good touring summer but I think this one’s bound to be a little bit better … in terms of just being back to the level it was before (the pandemic).”

For Moore, getting back on the road is a chance to keep fine-tuning and growing his live show.

“It’s a two-week run and I’m really looking forward to getting out there,” he said during a phone interview. “We’re very much into the minutia of how things sound and how it comes together in the production: not too loud, not too soft, not too dense, not too empty.

“We want to create an atmosphere that’s pleasing and healing and you can hear the words of the songs and everything is all wrapped around the songs. Something that’s transformative, for us and especially for the audience.”

Beyond just the lineup, Cross said he’s thrilled that the festival’s attendance numbers seem to be getting back to normal after the long COVID lull.

“Ticket sales are going really well,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of good feedback and buzz from ticket buyers and sponsors, so we’re excited that this is probably the closest we’ll be back to normal with Williamsburg Live since before COVID in 2019.”

When Loggins’ tour ends in November, the longtime performer knows it’ll be a bittersweet moment.

“I’ve been looking at (what I’ll miss about touring) as I go, and I think the connection with the fans is the biggest one,” he said. “On a good night with a good audience, there’s a group flow that happens that doesn’t happen in other situations of my life. I’ll miss just the connection, that feeling that happens when everybody’s in the same place at the same time.”

When: June 16, 17 and 18. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, 301 S. Nassau St., Williamsburg

Tickets: Start at $35 for each concert for Friday and Sunday and at $49 for Saturday; $112 for three-day package. Free lawn seating for children 6 and younger.

Details: vafest.org ; 757-282-2800

Free parking is available at the Visitor Center, and the shuttle bus service to the Historic Area will be available with or without CW admission tickets. Food and beverage vendors will be on site.

Sian Wilkerson, 757-342-6616, [email protected]

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Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Apr 24 2017

City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Moscow, Russia

*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!

At over 12 million people, Moscow is the largest city in Russia and second largest in Europe by population ( Istanbul is #1). An urban, cosmopolitan metropolis with more than enough glitz and glam to cater to the elite, but without losing its fair share of Soviet era roughness around the edges. It can be fast paced, brash, busy, and trendy like other big cities, but it has its blend of West meets Russia atmosphere and beauty that provides plenty of unique interest. The Red Square is as famous as it gets, but there’s so much more to this city, including the most beautiful subway system you’ve ever seen. It would take years to capture all of Moscow, but that means you have an endless amount of areas to discover.

So here’s a Street Photography guide so you can be ready to capture all that Moscow has to offer before you even arrive!

• Patriarch’s Pond
• Old Arbat Street
• Maroseyka Street
• Tverskoy Boulevard

Top 5 Street Spots:

1. red square.

The Red Square is the most famous square in not just Russia, but all of Eastern Europe. The name actually doesn’t come from the color of the bricks or communism, but from the name in Russian, Krásnaya, once meaning “beautiful” before its meaning changed to “red.” This large plaza is what you see on the cover of guide books and magazines for Moscow, with St. Basil’s Cathedral being the center piece next to Lenin’s Mausoleum surrounded by the Kremlin Wall. Of course, the Red Square attracts hordes of tourist due to the main attractions, but all that activity around an interesting atmosphere does provide street photo opportunities. It’s also the central square connecting to the city’s major streets, providing a good starting point to explore outward.

You’ll also find the popular pedestrian only Nikolskaya Street connecting the Red Square to Lubyanka Square. This line of expensive shops includes plenty of activity, while also leading you to another popular square. Filled with history rivaling any city, the Red Square and surrounding areas are the heart and soul of Russia.

2. Patriarch’s Ponds

Patriarch’s Ponds is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Moscow. Despite the name being plural, there’s only one large pond, but it’s worth a visit with your camera. It’s a popular spot for locals and expats to come relax or take a stroll around the pond. You get an interesting mix of young and old too, from young love to “babushkas” feeding pigeons. It’s a very peaceful park atmosphere in one of the nicer areas within the city center, while bringing enough activity for street photography. 

The pond is shallow and in the winter becomes a popular spot for ice-skating too. The area is also well-known for the location in the famous Russian novel, The Master and Margarita. 

3. Old Arbat (Stary Arbat)

Old Arbat is the most famous pedestrian street in Moscow, and dating back to the 15th century, also one of its oldest. Originally, it was an area of trade, but soon became the most prestigious residential area in Moscow. During the 18th century, Arbat started attracting the city’s scholars and artists, including Alexander Pushkin. Cafes lined the streets and impressive homes filled the neighborhood. Since then, New Arbat street was created as a highway in the area, while Old Arbat was paved for a 1km pedestrian only walkway.

Due to the historic buildings, famous artists that lived here, and the bohemian atmosphere, Old Arbat has become a big attraction for tourists today. Now, there’s a mix of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, street performers, street merchants and other attractions for visitors, and some locals, to come enjoy. It can get really busy here and there’s usually something interesting going on so it’s a good street to come walk with your camera for guaranteed life.

4. Gorky Park

One of the most famous places in Moscow is Gorky Park. The official name is Maxim Gorky’s Central Park of Culture & Leisure, which gives you an idea of what goes on here. When built, it was the first of its kind in the Soviet Union. Divided into two parts, it stretches along Moscow River. One end contains fair rides, foods stands, tennis courts, a sports club, a lake for boat rides, and more. This end brings more active life due to its number of attractions, while the other end is more relaxed, where you’ll find gardens, trees, older buildings, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Gorky Park attracts mostly locals so it’s a good spot to capture the non-tourist side of Moscow life. Muscovites come here to escape the city and unwind in a picturesque setting. The park remains alive outside of the warmer months too, especially when the lake turns into the city’s largest outdoor skating rink. I’d recommend taking the metro out here to spend at least half a day exploring the massive park’s life with your camera.

5. Maroseyka Street

Maroseyka Street is a popular area not too far from the Red Square. The long, winding street turns into Pokrovka and is lined with restaurants, cafes, bars and places to stay. It’s actually where I like to stay when I’m in Moscow due to its location and solid street photography opportunities itself. You have Kitay-gorod station near and if you keep walking southwest, you’ll get to the Red Square. But if you walk northwest, as it changes to Pokrovka, you can find a long street of activity for photography with its own interesting atmosphere.

6. Tverskoy Boulevard

Tverskoy Boulevard is the oldest and longest boulevard in Moscow, beginning at the end of Nikitsky Boulevard, and finishing at Pushkin Square, a spot to come for activity itself. The boulevard is made up of two avenues, with pedestrian walkways in-between. You’ll find grass, shrubbery, trees, benches and more walking it’s almost kilometer length. Many people come here to enjoy some relaxation, walk their dog, or just to use it to walk wherever they’re going. Its center location also provides a nice place to walk with your camera near plenty of other spots you’ll want to check out anyway.

Sample Street Walk:

For a full day of Street Photography, covering some of the best spots, you can follow this sample street walk for Moscow:

• Start your morning walking around the Red Square (1), while exploring the surrounding area, including Nikolskaya Street
• Then walk northwest to Patriarch’s Ponds (2) and slowly walk the pond and surrounding area with your camera
• Next, walk east to the Pushkin Monument and stroll down Tverskoy Boulevard (6)
• Once Tverskoy Boulevard (6) ends, it will turn into Nikitsky Boulevard. Follow this down until you get to the start of Old Arbat Street (3), across from Arbatskaya station
• After you’re done walking down Old Arbat Street (3) for more street photography, spend some time checking out Moscow’s beautiful metro stations
• To finish off the day with more street photography, get off the metro near Red Square (1) again, Maroseyka Street (5) or wherever you’re staying for the night.

3 Things I’ll Remember about Shooting in Moscow:

1. museum metro.

The Moscow metro system was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union and today includes 203 stations across 340km of routes. The elaborate system has some of the deepest stations in the world too, with escalators that seem to go on forever. None of this is what makes it so special, though. Many of its stations feel like stepping inside a museum, making it without a doubt the most interesting and beautiful metro system I’ve been in.

When built, Stalin wanted to make the metro stations “palaces for the people” with marble, chandeliers, and grand architecture. The best part is the variety of architecture and styles used, making many of the stations a completely different experience visually. You could easily spend a whole day traveling the stations and there are even tours available for people who wish to do just that. My advice, though, would be just to buy a ticket and hop on and off at different stations, while exploring different lines. The museum-like surrounding mixed with the crowds of characters can make for a great photography experience.

Since there are so many stations, here are some of my favorites to check out:

• Novoslobodskaya
• Mayakovskaya
• Elektrozavodskaya
• Komsomolskaya
• Ploschad Revolyutsii
• Dostoyevskaya
• Prospekt Mira

2. Moscow is Big

It’s no secret that Moscow is a big city, but it can feel even bigger with how spread out much of it is. This is especially true if you compare it to cities outside of Asia. If I compared it to cities in Europe, I’d probably say only Istanbul would warrant more time to really discover the depths of this city. Most only explore around the Red Square and surrounding area, but that is such a small part of the city. Although, that central area does give you plenty to see on its own.

Fortunately, I had a good friend living in the city to show me around, but it opened up my eyes even more to how much there is to discover in Moscow. It’s a big city with a variety of atmosphere that can take you from “east” to “west” and trendy to rugged depending on where you go. I’d imagine you’d have to live here a while to really know the city.

3. Cosmopolitan Mix of East meets West

Modern skyscrapers mixed with amazing architecture, a world-class metro system with museum-like beauty, trendy fashion and chic clubs, Moscow is a rich mix of Russian culture and history in a more western cosmopolitan package. There is a push to keep the Russian culture, while also pushing forward with a modern metropolis the whole world will envy. This comes with an impressive skyline, that continues to grow, and endless modernities, but with soviet nostalgia and atmosphere mixed in for good measure.

Mixed in with this grand western cosmopolitan atmosphere, is a strong national pride in Russia. This includes their famous leader, Vladimir Putin. Maybe no other place will you see a country’s leader more often. All over, from the pricey tourist shops to the underground walkway stalls, you’ll find goods with Putin’s likeness covering them. From t-shirts to magnets to Matryoshka dolls. There’s a strong national pride that can be seen around the city, which also extends to their leader. Moscow is many things. It’s East meets West, modernizations meets Soviet era, and a whole lot more.

What To Do For a Street Photography Break?:

Eat at a stolovaya.

Stolovayas are Russian cafeterias that became popular in the Soviet days. You grab a tray and walk down the line of freshly prepared local dishes, and select whatever you want from the chefs. They’re usually inexpensive and a much better value than restaurants, while giving you the opportunity to try from a wide selection of everyday Russian food. They’re also very tasty. I always include some borsch on my tray and go from there. The places themselves are all over Moscow and usually come with Soviet-era aesthetics to complete the experience.

Street Safety Score: 7

*As always, no place is completely safe! So when I talk about safety, I’m speaking in general comparison to other places. Always take precaution, be smart, observe your surroundings and trust your instincts anywhere you go!

Being the 2nd largest city in Europe with over 12 million people, you’re going to have your dangerous areas, but for the most part, it feels safe walking around. Russia is statistically higher in crime compared to most of Europe, but this generally doesn’t apply to tourists and visitors. Around the Red Square and surrounding city center, you should feel completely safe walking around. Pick pocketing can happen, but no more than other touristic places. I always explore Moscow freely without coming across too much to worry about. It’s a spread out city, though, so of course it matters where you are. Just use basic street smarts, know where you are and Moscow shouldn’t give you a problem. 

People’s Reaction Score: 7

Moscow is fast paced, big city life, which usually means people aren’t too concerned with you, or your camera. I don’t find people notice or pay much attention to me when I’m out taking photos in Moscow. For the most part, people just go about their day. You shouldn’t get too many looks or concern. But it can depend on the area you are in. The more you stick out, the more you might get noticed with suspicions. I’ve never had any problems in Moscow, or Russia, but just be careful who you’re taking a photo of if you get out of the city center. Other than that, it’s about average for reactions. 

Street Tips:

Learn the alphabet .

Much of Moscow, including the metro system, doesn’t use english. The Russian alphabet uses letters from the Cyrillic script, which if you aren’t familiar with it and don’t know the sounds, can be hard to decipher the words. This is most important for street names and metro stops when trying to get around. It can save confusion and make it easier getting around if you learn the basic alphabet. At the very least then, you can sound out the words to see which are similar in the english conversion, which can help matching them to maps. When out shooting street photography, getting around is as important as anything. So save yourself some time and frustration by learning the Russian Alphabet.

Use the metro

While Saint-Petersburg feels very walkable for a city its size, Moscow can feel very spread out, even for its bigger size. Outside of the Red Square area, you can have plenty of walking before getting anywhere very interesting, so you’ll need to take the metro a lot if you really want to explore the city. Maps are deceiving here too, it will always be further than it looks.

Another reason it’s less walkable than Saint-Petersburg is its completely different set-up. Moscow’s streets are mostly contstructed in rings with narrow, winding streets in-between. This is common with medieval city cities that used to be confined by walls, but you usually don’t have it in a city this massive. Saint-Petersburg has a more grid-like pattern that also uses the canals to help you know your way around. When it comes to navigating on foot in Moscow, it can be more difficult, so bring a map and take the metro when needed. It’s why Moscow’s metro carries more passengers per day than the London and Paris subways combined.

Explore other areas if you have time

Moscow is really big. While most people stay around the Red Square within the Boulevard Ring, there’s so much more to the city. I covered some other spots outside of this circle, but if you really want to see the city, you’ll need time. If you do have time, some other areas I’d check out first are Zamoskvarechye, along some of the south and western Moscow.

Inspiration:

For some more inspiration, you can look through the Street Photography of Moscow photographer Artem Zhitenev  and check out 33 of my photos taken in Moscow .

Conclusion:

Moscow’s name brings a certain mystique, but once you’re there it might bring a different atmosphere than you expect. It’s big and sprawling, but beautiful in many ways. It can feel like a European capital on a grand scale, but you can definitely find its Russian side in there.

The urban sprawl of Moscow can be intimidating, but give it enough time and you’ll be rewarded with plenty to discover. All with the world’s best metro system to take you around.

I hope this guide can help you start to experience some of what Moscow contains. So grab your camera and capture all that Moscow has to offer for Street Photography!

If you still have any questions about shooting in Moscow, feel free to comment below or email me!

(I want to make these guides as valuable as possible for all of you so add any ideas on improvements, including addition requests, in the comment section!)

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Cruising the Moskva River: A short guide to boat trips in Russia’s capital

There’s hardly a better way to absorb Moscow’s atmosphere than on a ship sailing up and down the Moskva River. While complicated ticketing, loud music and chilling winds might dampen the anticipated fun, this checklist will help you to enjoy the scenic views and not fall into common tourist traps.

How to find the right boat?

There are plenty of boats and selecting the right one might be challenging. The size of the boat should be your main criteria.

Plenty of small boats cruise the Moskva River, and the most vivid one is this yellow Lay’s-branded boat. Everyone who has ever visited Moscow probably has seen it.

This option might leave a passenger disembarking partially deaf as the merciless Russian pop music blasts onboard. A free spirit, however, will find partying on such a vessel to be an unforgettable and authentic experience that’s almost a metaphor for life in modern Russia: too loud, and sometimes too welcoming. Tickets start at $13 (800 rubles) per person.

Bigger boats offer smoother sailing and tend to attract foreign visitors because of their distinct Soviet aura. Indeed, many of the older vessels must have seen better days. They are still afloat, however, and getting aboard is a unique ‘cultural’ experience. Sometimes the crew might offer lunch or dinner to passengers, but this option must be purchased with the ticket. Here is one such  option  offering dinner for $24 (1,490 rubles).

If you want to travel in style, consider Flotilla Radisson. These large, modern vessels are quite posh, with a cozy restaurant and an attentive crew at your service. Even though the selection of wines and food is modest, these vessels are still much better than other boats.

Surprisingly, the luxurious boats are priced rather modestly, and a single ticket goes for $17-$32 (1,100-2,000 rubles); also expect a reasonable restaurant bill on top.

How to buy tickets?

Women holding photos of ships promise huge discounts to “the young and beautiful,” and give personal invitations for river tours. They sound and look nice, but there’s a small catch: their ticket prices are usually more than those purchased online.

“We bought tickets from street hawkers for 900 rubles each, only to later discover that the other passengers bought their tickets twice as cheap!”  wrote  (in Russian) a disappointed Rostislav on a travel company website.

Nevertheless, buying from street hawkers has one considerable advantage: they personally escort you to the vessel so that you don’t waste time looking for the boat on your own.

Prices start at $13 (800 rubles) for one ride, and for an additional $6.5 (400 rubles) you can purchase an unlimited number of tours on the same boat on any given day.

Flotilla Radisson has official ticket offices at Gorky Park and Hotel Ukraine, but they’re often sold out.

Buying online is an option that might save some cash. Websites such as  this   offer considerable discounts for tickets sold online. On a busy Friday night an online purchase might be the only chance to get a ticket on a Flotilla Radisson boat.

This  website  (in Russian) offers multiple options for short river cruises in and around the city center, including offbeat options such as ‘disco cruises’ and ‘children cruises.’ This other  website  sells tickets online, but doesn’t have an English version. The interface is intuitive, however.

Buying tickets online has its bad points, however. The most common is confusing which pier you should go to and missing your river tour.

“I once bought tickets online to save with the discount that the website offered,” said Igor Shvarkin from Moscow. “The pier was initially marked as ‘Park Kultury,’ but when I arrived it wasn’t easy to find my boat because there were too many there. My guests had to walk a considerable distance before I finally found the vessel that accepted my tickets purchased online,” said the man.

There are two main boarding piers in the city center:  Hotel Ukraine  and  Park Kultury . Always take note of your particular berth when buying tickets online.

Where to sit onboard?

Even on a warm day, the headwind might be chilly for passengers on deck. Make sure you have warm clothes, or that the crew has blankets ready upon request.

The glass-encased hold makes the tour much more comfortable, but not at the expense of having an enjoyable experience.

Getting off the boat requires preparation as well. Ideally, you should be able to disembark on any pier along the way. In reality, passengers never know where the boat’s captain will make the next stop. Street hawkers often tell passengers in advance where they’ll be able to disembark. If you buy tickets online then you’ll have to research it yourself.

There’s a chance that the captain won’t make any stops at all and will take you back to where the tour began, which is the case with Flotilla Radisson. The safest option is to automatically expect that you’ll return to the pier where you started.

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