Winding down the summer with Poco

The split of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD had fascinating and unprecedented implications for the course of American music.
NEIL YOUNG split to launch his epochal solo career, STEPHEN STILLS split to join forces with Graham Nash and David Crosby (and occasionally Young), and RICHIE FURAY and JIM MESSINA created an enduring template for country rock in POCO.
I've been returning to the sounds of the latter band for more than a week -- it's heartfelt twang helped me relax during a HEALTH REPORTING BOOT CAMP at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI.
Furay, Messina and pedal steel guitarist RUSTY YOUNG recorded the song "Kind Woman" for Buffalo Springfield's third and final album, "LAST TIME AROUND," in 1968. The trio then continued mining this rich vein of countrified rock in Poco.
Poco's music seems imbued with a back-porch vibe -- an off-the-cuff quality often missing from the platinum-selling EAGLES, who cashed-in while following in Poco's wake (and poaching a couple of Poco's members).
I think this vibe reflects the final days of summer, conjuring images of late-afternoon sunlight and lengthening shadows.
Fittingly, today is the final day of summer in our house: Both girls return to school tomorrow.
I'll spend part of the day listening to Poco, soaking up as much of their back-porch vibe as I can.