Who Is Logan Ledger? 5 Things You Need to Know
A young talent’s dream of getting discovered by the right Music City tastemaker really can come true. In the case of Logan Ledger, a demo recording caught the attention of Americana architect T Bone Burnett.
“A couple of years ago, my great friend Dennis Crouch sent me a recording of a song called "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me" by a young singer and writer named Logan Ledger," Burnett recalls in a press release. "He had, and has, a voice filled with history. I could hear echoes of one great singer after another in his tone. He sang without artifice. As we have been working together over the last couple of years, I have begun to discover the wide territory he is able to cover, and I look forward to exploring these new worlds of music with him.”
With a powerful ally in his corner, Ledger landed a deal with Rounder Records to release his self-titled debut album on Oct. 4, 2019. Advance singles “Starlight” and “Imagining Raindrops” capture an artist well-versed in the music of Webb Pierce, Roy Orbison and young Willie Nelson. As importantly, he's skilled at adding enough modern perspective to keep from sounding like a tribute act.
Ledger's is a story similar to Joshua Hedley’s rise from the white-hot fiddler at Robert’s Western World to a signee of Jack White's Third Man Records. Likewise, old souls impressed by Hedley’s 21st century reinterpretations of Ray Price tunes will be floored by what’s in store from Ledger. Read on to learn more about country music's best up-and-coming traditionalist.
He Fell in Love With Bluegrass at a Young Age ...
Like living legends Alison Krauss and Marty Stuart and fellow act to watch Larkin Poe, Ledger’s journey began as a young bluegrass prodigy. His passion for old-time picking inspired him to learn to play guitar at age 12.
… But Classic Country Music Sparked His Career
Encounters with the music of George Jones and Hank Williams, not Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, diverted Ledger from life on the bluegrass circuit to a run as one of Nashville’s barely-kept secrets.
His Past and Current Paths Converge at Rounder Records
By chance, Ledger’s old-time music interests were fed by his new label home. Rounder Records has been making roots music accessible for a modern audience since 1970.
“Ever since I was a kid listening to Doc Watson and Norman Blake records in my childhood home and dreaming about a life in music, Rounder has been an important presence in my life,” Ledger says in a press release. “It’s an honor to be working with a record label that not only proudly represents decades of our musical tradition, but also believes that history continues to inform our future sonic landscape.”
His Debut Album Features the Same Rhythm Section as Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s ‘Raising Sand’
On Ledger's first record, Burnett plays guitar on most tracks, alongside the supporting cast from Krauss and Plant’s multi-Grammy Awards winner: guitarist Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), drummer Jay Bellerose (Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne) and bassist Dennis Crouch (Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton).
He Interprets Songs By an Impressive Cast of Songwriters
New cuts on Ledger’s debut album highlight such songwriting talents as Burnett (“(I’m Gonna Get Over This) Some Day”), Steve Earle (“The Lights of San Francisco”) and John Paul White (“Tell Me a Lie”). The record's lone cover, “Skip a Rope,” adds a modern spin to Henson Cargill’s 1967 chart-topper; it was co-written by Glenn Douglas Tubb, a nephew of Ernest Tubb and a still-active country-gospel performer.