Had Jim Messina not become a musician and producer, he might have made a good gemcutter.

From his first big break in the music industry, Messina became known for finding the treasure in the tape. Hired on to engineer what would be the final album from the Buffalo Springfield — the incubator for Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay — he helped create a late-period masterpiece from a band on its way to dissolution (“Last Time Around,” 1968). Joining Furay’s new project Poco, he built the country-rock genre that would later sell millions of records for the Eagles.

Finally, in partnership with young Everett-born songwriter Kenny Loggins, Messina recorded and played on some of the most adored country-rock hits of the 1970s: “Danny’s Song,” “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” “Angry Eyes.” Some of their work, with Messina’s influence, prefigured the Caribbean yacht-pop of Jimmy Buffett, like “Vahevala” and “Sailin’ the Wind.”

Messina, now 61, parted ways in 1976 with Loggins, who went on to become a king of the sensitive singer-songwriter set, not to mention the burgeoning film soundtrack market (“Caddyshack,” “Footloose,” “Top Gun”). The two reunited for a tour in 2005, and next week bring their revived duo to Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee.

“I’ve really enjoyed seeing Kenny come alive again on his guitar, which in his solo career, he spent very little time on,” says Messina by phone from his home in Santa Barbara. “It’s really been great seeing him start to rekindle that relationship with his instrument.”

Go! Magazine: Has Kenny’s approach or direction changed much since the ’70s?

Jim Messina: I think the most obvious thing is that for me, when we first started, I was the producer, and I was assigned to produce a solo album for Kenny. But at that time, he wasn’t really ready to embark on that. He just didn’t have the experience. After all this time and his own personal success, I think he brings something to the party really as an equal partner — being experienced and having a lot more to add than when we first started. Not that he didn’t add a lot; he added a tremendous amount to Loggins and Messina initially, as an artist, as a singer, as a musician. My job was originally to simply get that on tape, and I ended up in an artistic relationship with him, and as a producer. But now I think it’s really wonderful, because that’s not something I have to really think about — I just have to be an artist, which is great.

Go!: I would apply the same question to you. You had done many things before Loggins and Messina, and have done many things since. So how has your approach to the duo relationship changed?

Messina: Well, over the years, I’ve had a chance to become a better player, a better singer, and what I’m able to do now is really be more of an artist. That’s the most enjoyable part of being in a performing group — actually playing and performing. The good news is that over the years, I’ve been able to become better at my craft, so I think that’s kind of what I bring to the party.

Go!: You originally came to work with Kenny after having been part of larger groups. Did you find that a duo at that time suited you better than those larger ensembles had?

Messina: Yes, because I think at the time ... I was very young, 19 or 20 when I started in the Springfield, and I started first as their recording engineer, and then subsequently was asked to produce them. After (Atlantic Records founder) Ahmet Ertegun asked me, I took the job, and shortly thereafter, they lost their bass player. ... I figured, “Why not audition, maybe I could get the job.” Suddenly, I was bass player, producer and engineer of the Springfield. Neil Young and Richie Furay and Stephen Stills were the writers and singer of that initial band — I was really the support team. In Poco, I started branching out by playing the guitar more, which was my original instrument, and started to become more involved as a singer and as a writer. But the music with Poco, as you can attest if you look at them now, pretty much has stayed in the genre that they’re comfortable with, and I was ready to do something different. I think that’s probably more appropriately stated when you hear songs like “El Tanto de Nadie,” which is moving more in a Latin direction, or “Hurry Up” on the second album, again having more of a Latin rock feel inside of it. I needed to grow, which is one of the reasons I left Poco. In finding Kenny, the great thing was he loved all kinds of music, and could sing all kinds of music, and was willing and open to try things. Sometimes with bands, they have a tendency to get a little jaded. They get stuck in their particular thing that they do best and it’s difficult to make changes under those circumstances. And in some cases, it’s probably inappropriate. The style of music is the style of music, and that’s what’s most fitting. I’ve always been more of a person, as a musician and a producer, who’s more diverse, able to grow more and change more. In looking at my life subsequently to even Loggins and Messina — I weld and I paint and I build furniture and I build electronics. My life is very diverse, and therefore, probably the reason why musically I like being diverse. That’s looking at myself — I don’t know how objective it is, but that’s what comes to mind.

Go!: Producing or performing ... which would you prefer most? Or is that like asking you to choose between two children?

Messina: Well, one just really follows the other. I learned how to record music back in the ’60s, and I learned how to produce it and make it a success while performing in the ’70s. So for me, they’re one and the same. I guess it would be sort of like having Siamese twins — if I separate them, I’m gonna kill them both.