Logan Halstead

[00:00:00] All right, Logan Halstead, probably one of the most exciting young artists out there, I would say. And I don't know if you probably hear a lot of it on social media and whatnot,

[00:00:23] but you're a really young kid. So to be this good, and I'm not, you don't got to talk about how good you think you are, but we can tell you to be this good and have that voice at

[00:00:33] this age. Did you know pretty early or was this kind of something that came along more in your teenage years? No, it came really late, really. I never knew. I always thought that I was in the bubble.

[00:00:49] I think about that a lot. Like, you know, of course, my family's gonna say that I sound good. Of course, my close friends are gonna say that I sound good. Most of the time that

[00:01:00] I was playing though, I just thought I was in a bubble until I got played during my teenage years and started playing out in front of people. And once crowds of people come

[00:01:09] up to me and we're digging it and we're telling me how good they thought it sounded then, that's when it hit me. You're a West Virginia native. I feel like there's Charles Wesley Godwin and another

[00:01:21] guy from there. You guys just pick up a guitar one day and are just like savant musicians, singer songwriters with this deep guttural connection to human soul. And you're like, yeah, I don't know. I started singing. What about that area just breeds talent?

[00:01:43] Man, I think a lot of kids around here, for me especially, I grew up pretty fast. You don't get to be a kid. You kind of got to go straight into adult shit and have a good head on your

[00:01:59] shoulders. I think a lot of us just living around here and obviously, Kentucky and West Virginia, just having such musical influences around here. Those two things together, I think makes really great songwriters come out of this area.

[00:02:16] I was going to say, who did you kind of grow up listening to? What was being played in the house? For me, my mom's favorite is Vern Godson. But for me, really, we had a lot of vinyl of

[00:02:29] rock and metal. I grew up on Metallica and Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd. It was crazy for me. I always loved, obviously, the older country guys like Waylon and Willie and Merle and George. They were huge influences, especially for my mom. It was crazy to me at first

[00:02:52] really that I got into playing country and just having such rock influences. But later in my high school years, I found Sturgill and I found Tyler. I found Nick Jamerson and I found Colt Chaney. He was a big one there in my later years in high

[00:03:12] school. Just hearing those people, it was like it was okay to be from my area. We were always the Hicks and the Inbreds. It's great hearing them tell their stories around here. It was a huge influence.

[00:03:36] We actually just had Colon. He was a good dude. It's funny, you guys tend to have this similar demeanor. A lot of you guys were super relaxed and humble. We talk about the

[00:03:49] actual skill and you compare it to some of the pop country radio people. To me, what you guys are doing is not even comparable to that watered down stuff. Perhaps you guys were keeping your head on right. We had a couple of notes from an employee. Are you

[00:04:08] still in high school or are you done with high school? No, I'm done. You're done with high school. I think she had a year late on the bio. Now it's just 100% music. School's over. It's got to feel good, right?

[00:04:22] Oh yeah. It's been great. Since I was pretty much 17, that's been my job. It's playing music. It's been incredible. Have you had one of those holy shit moments where you're like, I can't believe I'm doing this? Maybe you were at a festival or something or met somebody?

[00:04:45] Too many of them. I think Laurel Cove was the first big one. Laurel Cove Music Festival out in Pondville, Kentucky. That was the first huge one I hadn't played. That might have been my first festival that I played, honestly. Just seeing that

[00:05:00] amount of people because they had a smaller campground stage and it was a walk. You had to either go through the woods or there was a road that went around and it was a walk. People splitting their decisions of main stage, campground stage, main stage.

[00:05:18] And to see that many people just come walking down there and leave the main stage and come and see me, that was a huge, huge hit you right in the feels moment right there. I think, isn't that where you played that song Pussy in Paintsville?

[00:05:33] Yeah, there's a lot of great clips of that one. Everyone started just hooting and hollering. Is there an inside Kentucky knowledge that that's like, because that's the town of Kentucky, right? Yeah. Is that like they got like prostitutes there? Is it like, it seemed like everyone

[00:05:51] was in on the joke and I'm not from Kentucky. So I was like, what the, why is everyone laughing so hard? That's a funny one because I was like living in West Virginia at the time and

[00:06:00] like, I've maybe been to Paintsville like once or twice and there's no truth in that song whatsoever. Just the Ps that work? Like, man, it's just one of those like Rodney Carrington and they're like Wheeler Walker songs that I, that was just goofy and it stuck man.

[00:06:18] But this love of because Paintsville is just, it's kind of like when, when Tyler talks about West Virginia or like a movie references West Virginia, like West Virginia, fucking crazy. Cause it's like, nobody talks about us, you know?

[00:06:32] And we hear that and they're like, oh my God, West Virginia. I think it's just one of them things. Like they hear Paintsville and they hear Eastern Kentucky and they're like, yeah, this is funny. That's hilarious.

[00:06:44] The I mean, a much different song, obviously the one that done the really crazy streaming numbers for you. Dark, dark black coal. Amazing song. Can you give the story a little bit? Obviously if you listen to it, it's super deep and an emotional song about like

[00:07:01] upbringing and the hard work people put in, but can you tell us kind of the story and kind of what made you write that one? Um, that one really, um, I was at my mom on pop-offs one day.

[00:07:12] Um, and I just got the urge to just write something. And, uh, I went in the bathroom actually and closed the door cause like you get great, like you get great acoustics, you don't have anything.

[00:07:25] So I went in there and sat down and just started playing the first few chords to that one. And that was one of those that just, you know, you write it in five minutes and it

[00:07:35] was just, you know, the one that really spoke to people and, and really spoke to me, you know, the most. And that's where I get my writing a lot. It was like, I'm not really out for everybody. I'm not doing this for everybody.

[00:07:47] You know, like I like these songs, uh, these songs resonate with me. And if they resonate with everybody else, that's, that's awesome. But yeah, that was just one that came, came quick and just really tells, you know, the story of growing up around my area.

[00:08:03] Um, all the older adults that were in the mining, um, business, they, uh, they always kind of told us, you know, the young kids is like, you don't want to do this.

[00:08:14] You know, this is, you need to go to college and you need to get out of here. You don't, you don't want to keep doing this. And it's almost like a love hate relationship with coal in a way in the area.

[00:08:26] Cause it's like, obviously it provides for so much of the families in Appalachia, but it's also like another thing that like, it seems like nobody wants to actually be doing. It's kind of a dangerous job. It's physical.

[00:08:41] Like, is that kind of like how it is, how it is there? Yeah. Yeah. Boone County, especially where I grew up, it's pretty much the only thing, you know, there's, you know, um, a coal mine every couple of miles and there's like two gas stations.

[00:08:57] So you make your choice. How far is like the nearest like Walmart or Kroger? Kroger's like, so that was a big thing when I was a kid. It's like going to town. That was a thing. Yeah. They get in the car, we're going to town.

[00:09:13] It's probably like, you know, 40 minutes. Damn. From like a Kroger. Yeah. And then there's one grocery store, but they like hike the prices way up cause they know they're the only one. Man. Yeah.

[00:09:31] I know you're not a drinking age, but were you, or is there a lot of like in that area, a lot of moonshiners people doing at the old school way still stuff like that, like with the old school. Yeah.

[00:09:44] I mean, when we were in high school, little bucket stale, you know? Oh yeah. I figured, I mean, we did it too. Growing up in Indiana and West was kind of out in the country and by Iowa to an

[00:09:54] Illinois and I just assume over there, it's like you're in the woods, you know, hard work and there's not much, but honestly your connection right now, I don't know where you're at right now. Where are you at right now? Uh, we're in pocket. We'll Kentucky. Okay.

[00:10:07] I couldn't tell it from the back, but I mean, we've had people on that podcast with the worst internet imaginable and they're like in a house in Nashville. It's like you've been crystal clear so far. So, so I appreciate that. Intermittent. So yeah, yeah.

[00:10:21] I remember when I first was growing up, we were trying to get like the high speed internet and I only lived about like five miles from town. So it was fairly close, took maybe, you know, five minutes to get there.

[00:10:32] And, but like we just couldn't, they're like, Oh, sorry that the high speed internet doesn't, doesn't go that far. Like, okay, I guess we'll just never have, you know, streaming or Netflix or any of that. She's not downloading. Yeah. Let me see here. Sorry.

[00:10:46] I was looking at some of the questions your fans sent in. Oh, you got a ton of questions about, and I know you probably get it all the time about a full length album. If you can, there's a timeline cause it seems like everybody's itching for a ton

[00:11:00] of new music from you. Is there anything you, any news on that or not yet? Um, um, be looking for something sometime around May. That's all, that's all I'll put out there right now. You can say it. And you just dropped a, what was it called?

[00:11:17] Good old boys and bad names. I can't read my own handwriting. Is that going to be on this project in May? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That, uh, I think it'll definitely be nice. We had another fan question that asks for your, uh, Mount Rushmore of country music.

[00:11:34] That's who's on your Mount Rushmore. That's a good one. Um, I probably have to go with Tony Rice will be on there if you count that one as country. Yeah. It's under the umbrella. Yeah. Tony's up there.

[00:11:54] I think a big one for me is Merle and then fuck, I don't know, man. The two. That is a tough one. I think we posted that on a question on Twitter too. And there it was, it was pretty all over the place. Yeah. There's too many day.

[00:12:10] There's too many, especially, you know, growing up like I did. And the only thing you can get, get me to pay attention at school to fucking anything man. But yeah, there's too many, man. It'd be too big of a mountain. Yeah. I, uh, here's one more though.

[00:12:24] I don't know if, if you dabble in the, uh, marijuana and the weed and all that good stuff. But somebody asked, do you write songs better after smoking? Uh, yeah, I'd say so. Um, for me it's me creative. Yeah.

[00:12:39] I don't, I don't, I don't know if I've ever, I don't know if I've ever wrote once over. So, I mean, there you go. I say I is crazy. Like I've never done a podcast sober. Yeah, that's true.

[00:12:50] Well, we've done, we've had some old ones too, where we, we, we mix edibles with booze and that was not, we had to like just scrap them. Cause we don't even literally would wake up the next day and we're like, I don't even know what we talked about.

[00:13:01] And we'd just say, forget it. Just not worth it. Not worth it being out there. But it is crazy. I'm in Colorado. So obviously everybody here is just so normal and just smokes or pens or edibles like the creative block.

[00:13:18] And then you just take a hit of a weed pen, even if it's just a little bit and you're just like, boom. Oh, I feel good. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. You just start jotting stuff down. It's similar for you. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:13:28] It hits me the most in the morning, man. I wake up and then, you know, hit something and instantly I'm like, man, I want to pick up my guitar. Like, you know, I want to, I want to play something. I want to write something.

[00:13:42] Do you like sit down to write a lot or is it more of a, when the moment strikes kind of deal? Yeah, that's the thing is like, um, I can't never, I can't do it. Like we'll work, man.

[00:13:52] I can't sit down and say, I'm going to write a song. Most all of mine have been like driving is one just driving and some something will hit me and you know, I got to pull over and, and, and write a little, maybe it's a

[00:14:04] couple of lines and then go home and think about the rest of it or, you know, they always just, it's kind of a, uh, they just hit you in the moment. Do you like hear the melody or is it just like the words?

[00:14:18] Cause I always have such a hard time with like, as soon as I start thinking I'm maybe writing a song in my head, then I'm like, oh, that sounds a lot like insert song.

[00:14:27] And then I'm on that wavelength and then I can't get it out of my head. And then it's like, fuck this. What am I doing? I do a lot of both, but yeah, I get that too all the time.

[00:14:36] I mean, probably about every song I write, I'm like, I feel like I've heard this song. I don't remember this song, but I've heard this song before and I feel like I'm ripping something off here.

[00:14:46] And yeah, you get those feelings, but I think a lot of it is just, you know, just being nervous about your own work. Yeah. Oh, turk touring. Are you going to be, what's the, what's the rest of the 2023 looking like? A lot more shows or yeah.

[00:15:03] Yeah. We were, um, we were, uh, we did pretty good last year. We were pretty busy. This year is going to be a hell of a lot more busy. So yeah, we'll have shows most about anywhere you can catch us, but definitely along these coasts.

[00:15:19] Do you ever get to Nashville or what do you, what do you think of it? If you have, yeah. Every once in a while, I can't, I can't say that I can't lie and say I don't hate on Nashville. Um, I did like it there.

[00:15:32] I just, I think I haven't found a lot of great venues that I like. I played third and Lindsley there. That's a, I like I've been to the basement. Um, that's a great one, but yeah, I haven't been there too much.

[00:15:44] Don't know too much, but I stay away from Broadway. Yeah, no, man, we could talk all for an hour about Broadway and what it's turned into, but yeah, I don't, you don't strike me as the guy in Nashville.

[00:15:54] Like, Hey man, we should write some, you know, like somebody even like these people have sold shirts that say that we should write some time. You're talking about your songwriting and the way a lot of Nashville where, you

[00:16:03] know, you go into like a boardroom with a big fancy table and computer chairs and you all sit around and don't know each other potentially. And all right, right. Let's hit me. That sounds like my worst nightmare to be creative. Yeah. Here's somebody you don't know.

[00:16:17] Here's another person you don't know. Sit in a room with white walls and a bare ass gray carpet and just sit there in an office building, write a song. It's like, I mean, does that sound like the worst kind of. Process for you. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:35] Shit on the Nashville cat. That's a lot. Yeah. You, I guess if you find your click, it'll work, but you know, like your group, but do you write with other people like ever? Do you ever have.

[00:16:48] I have a little bit here and there, but no, mostly it's, it's, it's just a me thing. I gotta be me by myself alone, nobody around and just, uh, open words out. You were featured on that song on Arlo's, uh, Arlo McKinley's last album, which is awesome.

[00:17:06] Um, how did that kind of come about? Just, he asked you to be on it or what was the. Yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't believe that when we got to go down to Memphis to Sam Phillips, a recording studio down there, which is legendary and, uh, yeah, that

[00:17:20] kind of was a huge surprise. A kid like me, you know, I was really just getting started out playing shows and got got flown down to Memphis and yeah, that was just a core, really cool project to be on. Yeah. He's awesome. Last question for me, just curious.

[00:17:37] You're talking about touring more and you're obviously a young dude and maybe don't have a ton of shows on your belt quite yet, but what's the craziest or like the worst performance you've had or craziest, maybe something in the crowd or

[00:17:49] have you ever just shit the bed completely with a performance for getting songs or equipment issues or any of those? Because everybody seems to have one. Um, I imagined, um, let's see, I did.

[00:18:02] I tend to like, I guess it kind of mad sometimes about, um, talkers during shows and this one venue, I'm not going to name the venue because I love them to death

[00:18:13] and you know, I don't want to hate on them, but I was just playing the venue and there was a table right up front that we're just talking and talking and talking. And I ended up going on a rant for like five minutes.

[00:18:25] It's like when, when a kid like first birds and he's just like saying everyone and yeah, they ended up leaving. And then it was after that. So yeah, that's, that's probably one of them. Oh, that's hilarious. I think, uh, Brenda Lambert even did that recently. Really? Yeah.

[00:18:44] She was like, uh, it was a, I mean, not that recently, but within the last, within the last year, like I'm pouring my heart out up here. You shut the fuck up kind of thing. Well, Sturgill had that.

[00:18:55] We posted this, this is a, I don't know, four or five years ago, Sturgill broke up a fight. I forgot what venue it was. And I think he's doing a cover of like Roy Orbison. Like it was like a, an old school cover of some sort.

[00:19:07] I'm blanking on it, but emotional song and these two guys are fighting and he just stops and she's like, how the fuck are you going to fight when I'm singing this song? But it's like, man, I can't imagine having to deal with like drunks doing

[00:19:22] something where you gotta like be focused and you're playing an instrument and you're singing and you gotta remember lyrics and then drunk assholes are fighting or something. Oh man. That's gotta be a, I mean, as your crowd grows, which it will, you're gonna,

[00:19:34] you're gonna get more and more, more and more distractions. I mean, even bras go on state, like, you know, like you don't, you don't know what's going to happen up there. Um, well dude, I mean we love your music, so I'm glad he gives a little tidbit of

[00:19:48] hopefully when we can kind of catch the new, uh, the new stuff and um, stay safe out there, man. You got so much ahead of you, so we're pumped for you and gonna share the hell out of all your music as it comes out. Oh yeah.

[00:19:59] Thank you guys so much. Yeah. It's been a blast.