Before taking to the
stage to perform a fantastic set filled with original songs and covers ranging
from Dolly to Tom Petty and Oasis, Logan Brill took some time to chat with me.
Keep reading to find out her thoughts on being a tourist in London, playing with
Merle Haggard and more!
Ciara’s Country
(CC): I’m here
with Logan Brill ahead of her set at the Nashville Meets London festival in
Canary Wharf. So to start off Logan, thank you so much for joining me here
tonight!
Logan Brill (LB): Yeah, thank you for having me!
CC: So how are things going for you at
the moment?
LB: So well! I’m loving London – it’s
been a really fun experience. This is my very first time touring over here, so
I’m really excited to play tonight.
CC: Have you had a chance to have a
look around the city yet?
LB: I have a bit – we’ve only been
here for three days so it’s been very short and I fly home tomorrow morning.
But this is my third time visiting London so I’ve been able to do the touristy
thing the past two times I’ve been.
CC: And how do you think playing here
will compare to touring back home?
LB: It’s different for sure. It’s
exciting being on tour, being able to see all sorts of different places – these
past couple of months I’ve been on the road touring the States and seen a lot
of the country in the US that I haven’t seen before. But the crowd here is
definitely going to be fantastic – there’s a great mix between a listening
crowd and a crowd that’s having a good time, so yeah, I’m excited about it!
CC: And it seems like you’ve had a
couple of pretty good years recently with a few critically acclaimed albums –
do you have a highlight?
LB: Oh man, there are so many
highlights! I feel like there have been a lot of moments in the past couple of
years where I’ve had to pinch myself – playing the Grand Ole Opry was a huge
one, I got to do my Opry debut in Nashville this past year which was a big
thing for me. Getting to play with Merle Haggard before he passed away was
really exciting – that was an honour and I felt really lucky that I was able to
play with him in his final years, so that was a huge one. And then honestly,
just being able to be on tour as much as I am and being able to release records
is what I’ve always wanted to do so being able to do it full time and being
able to travel has been really exciting.
CC: What do you think you’d be doing
if you weren’t a musician?
LB: Oh gosh, I don’t even know,
honestly I don’t know what I’d do! I’ve always wanted to do this. I got my
degree in French so maybe I’d do something with that – teach or something, who
knows? But like I said, I can’t imagine doing anything else.
CC: I think we’re all very glad that
this is the path you chose anyway!
LB: Me too!
CC: In terms of your musical style,
it’s quite unique in that you draw on different elements from a variety of
musical styles and not just country – what are some of the biggest musical
influences for you?
LB: You know, growing up I listened to
my parents generation of music – I loved listening to Dolly Parton, and even
The Rolling Stones, kind of a wide range of musical styles, but growing up in
East Tennessee, country music is such a big part of the heritage there that
that was always the direction that I wanted to go in. I started out singing
blues when I was a kid – I was like eleven years old, singing in bars in
Knoxville and I started out with the blues, so I think I had a dose of like the
country blues, and then moved to Nashville and got an extra dose from being
there.
CC: So your background has clearly
influenced the style of music that you play – has it also influenced the
content of your songs?
LB: It has, for sure. The content of
my songs is also so much about the story of the journey that I’m on as an
artist in my twenties, you know, it’s an interesting time to be trying to do
this and going through different relationships, and the challenges of being on
the road and the excitement of being on the road. Especially on this last
record, the content of my songs is so much about the story that I want to tell about
my life which is why it’s close to my heart.
CC: I suppose sharing so much of your
life must be quite a nerve-wracking experience.
LB: You know, it can be at times for
sure, but it’s also really gratifying to be able to put out music that is close
to my heart and might be intimate, but that people can connect with, and
there’s nothing more rewarding than hearing a fan say ‘that song of yours
really helped me through something really difficult’ or ‘oh my gosh, I totally
connect to this song, I’ve been through the same thing’ I think people totally
connect with vulnerability very well, and I find the relationships that I can
make with my fans are even more rewarding because of that.
CC: And when you play your songs live,
do you have a favourite that you like to play?
LB: You know, I love all of them, but
I’d say especially on this last record, the first song and the last song on
this record being so vastly different – Shuteye
is really loud, with electric guitars with
a lot of distortion, and the last song is I
Wish You Loved Me which is really stripped down and simple. Both of them
are my two favourite ones even though they’re so vastly different. So those are
probably my favourite ones but I also love to do random covers of other songs
we like kind of on a whim – we’ll pick them on the day of and decide what we
want to do. I have a lot of favourites!
CC: In terms of the music you like to
listen to, are there any underrepresented artists that you think should be more
widely recognised?
LB: I will say Yola Carter who I saw
play recently was absolutely amazing – her voice blew me away and she was so
inspiring so I’ll definitely go back and start listening to her for sure. There
are a lot of American bands that I’ve been really into for quite a while –
there’s a band called Dawes, I don’t know if they’ve ever toured over here –
I’m a huge fan of theirs. They’re not even really country, they’re more in the
kind of rock/Americana scene, but yeah, there are loads of unrecognised artists
out there. But Yola Carter is definitely my new favourite, I absolutely loved
her set. I watched like totally awestruck and went up afterwards and had to
fangirl and talk to her after the show. She should come to the States and tour,
for sure.
CC: I agree, Yola is absolutely a new
favourite for me too. Likewise, you should definitely come and tour in the UK
more often too! That’s the kind of thing we’re hoping to get out of events like
today, and get more artists touring over here too.
LB: Yeah, it’s really cool to see a mesh
of a lot of UK bands and also the Nashville crew here at Nashville Meets
London. Back to back it’s been really interesting to see the interaction
between the two and see a lot of UK bands that I hadn’t seen before.
CC: I’d say everyone’s very excited to
see your set tonight.
LB: I’m very excited to play!
CC: My final question for this
interview is what’s one question you wish you were asked in interviews but
never are?
LB: Oh my gosh, I really don’t know!
That’s a really great question! I guess maybe about goals in my future?
CC: And how would you answer that?
LB: I’d want to just reiterate that
this is really what I want to do – I want to be like Merle Haggard still
playing a like 82 – maybe needing help while walking out on the stage but still
doing what I’m doing today, and hoping that all my fans know how much I love to
do this as well.
CC: Great! We look forward to seeing
you still touring when you’re 82!
LB: Yeah, come see me again when I’m
82!
CC: Thank you so much for your time
and good luck for the show tonight.
LB: Appreciate it, thanks for talking
to me!
Thanks very much to
Logan for taking the time to speak with me! You can keep up to date with any
future interviews at @CiarasCountry, and check out what Logan’s up to
@LoganBrillMusic
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