Are we, for all our freedom more troubled and unhappy now than ever? Steve Logan’s sixth album, Psych Ward, is said to touches on many of the big cultural issues of our times, with an outreach appeal that should attract fans of both Neil Young and The Manic Street Preachers equally.
Psych Ward‘ is out now on Flip Flop Records as is new single ‘Jesus Is My Vaccine‘, and out which he said: “During lockdown I read an article about a pro-Trump rally. Among banners saying ‘My Body My Choice’, ‘My Rights Don’t End Where Your Fear Begins’, ‘My Body, My Choice’ and ‘Socialism Sucks’, one in particular struck me. It said ‘Jesus is My Vaccine’. I felt that Jesus might have wept at this and the individualistic view of life it implies.”
Logan grew up in South-East Wales, in a village where most of the men worked in the local steel-works. His father was a singer, mostly in the Irish clubs around Newport. Later he moved to London and busked in the subways near Marble Arch. On Edgware Road there is a subway now marked Joe Strummer’s subway but it wasn’t just his.
Logan wrote his first song at the back of a physics class, aged 14 and then kept going. He joined his first band at fifteen, playing drums, then moving to vocals and guitar. There followed a long succession of cover-bands, indie bands and tributes. Notable among these was one with strong political slant called Keep The Faith. Dave Stokes, the main songwriter in this, was an inspiration to Logan. He was really driven to write and get his music performed even if it wasn’t always welcomed.
Later, after moving to Cambridge, Logan formed Free Again that had several different line-ups and was firmly established on the tribute circuit. His plan was to play Free and Bad Company songs then work his own songs into the set until they gradually became the main focus. This, however, didn’t happen owing to line-up changes and the constraints of the tribute format.
“Eventually I decided to go it alone and began my recording his growing catalogue of original songs in earnest.” He said, drawing on the support of many good friends and musicians to do so. Kimberley (‘Walking On Sunshine’) Rew, a legend on the Cambridge music scene generously played on Steve’s first solo acoustic album, 2014’s Signs and Wonders, as did Rhys Wilson, a stalwart of the local music scene. Kimberley’s wife, Lee-Cave-Berry, played bass on the full-band follow-up, Deliverance (2015), along with Rhys Wilson and Paul Richards (drums). Logan’s third album, Wanted Alive (2016) again featured Rhys Wilson (guitars), Andy Cross (bass) and Phil Bryant (drums), alongside Logan’s distinctive vocals and guitar-playing. This was swiftly followed by Backstreets Of Eden (2017) that attracted wide and positive coverage in the music press, followed by his fifth album in five years, 2019’s Shaking Hands With The Devil.
“It’s always difficult to say who your influences have been. If you just mention musical ones, you’re leaving out the personal influences which have often been as crucial,” said Logan. “And, if you believe in matters of the spirit, there’s the large question of how we are led to the music and the people who do us most-good. But among purely musical influences, maybe mine fall into two categories: heavy blues-rock and what I call song-poets – people who, following Dylan, are the minstrels of our age. Free and Led Zeppelin were crucial to me because they span both genres, writing heavy rock anthems and delicate dreamy poetry in music.
“My live sets and albums reflect this acoustic/electric border-hopping. Because of this, Neil Young has been an especially important influence and example, known as both the godfather of grunge and the author of some of the most sensitive and alluring acoustic ballads. I love his work because it honours the muse and keeps developing, as I aim to myself, singing with passion, right from heart to heart.”
Live, Steve Logan often plays acoustic sets followed by electric ones. Aside from solo shows he performs with his four-piece band, Geronimo (Named with a nod to Crazy Horse), and performed a the Cambridge Rock Festival six years running, his songs have featured on many radio stations in the UK and some in the US.
If Steve Logan’s new to you then check out the video to new single ‘Jesus Is My Vaccine‘ here at RAMzine as well as 2018 TV documentary footage. Then order the album here.
