HANGING OUT // LOGAN BOWDEN

In a town that is deeply immersed in sports, some might not see Tuscaloosa as the place one comes to find and develop their artistic “vein” but for 22-year-old and senior at The University of Alabama, Logan Bowden, it was exactly the place he needed to be at in order to figure out his dreams and aspirations.

His soft yet filled with passion and yearning folky voice was something Logan himself wasn’t too familiar with until his Junior year at the capstone.

“You know, no one was like ‘yeah do music!’ it just wasn’t something that was ever suggested,” Logan explained. “So it wasn’t until Junior year where I kind of had a breakdown and told myself I needed to figure out what I wanted to do.”

Though it was a journey that didn’t officially begin until his twenties, Logan recalls his adolescent self and how music helped him cope and understand his teenage mood swings and thoughts.

“You know, I wrote my first song when I was 14,” Bowden said. “I think that’s the age where you’re sort of developing new thoughts and feelings so, it just sort of helped me understand it all.”

Opening up for Gregory Alan Isakov, a South African native singer-songwriter, at The Fillmore is something Bowden recalls as one of his most life-changing musical experiences.

“He told me to take every opportunity that presents itself to me, to not give up and just do it,” Bowden added. “He told me he’d seen a lot of people just ‘do’ music but that when he saw me perform, he could tell I needed to do it.”

That’s when he decided, music was the answer. From then on, he has been working endless hours on perfecting his craft and sound, making sure everything he puts his name on, will sound pure, honest, and represent him as an individual.

Now, while many students are busy figuring out their next semester schedules, summer internships, and jobs, Logan looks ahead at the possibilities the future holds with recording being the ultimate plan.

“I’m open to any style and collaboration,” Bowden explained. “But folk music is where my heart is at. I love the innocence and story behind it.”

Bowden goes on to add, “There has to be passion behind what you are singing. A connection between the song and you. That’s what I feel like a lot of the top 40 artist lack, it gets to a point where you can sense the loss of emotion behind what they’re singing.”

The inspiration behind Logan’s original records come from those who surround him, his interaction with friends and their stories. A lover of nature and the open world, he is greatly inspired by stories such as “Into the Wild” but there is one person who subconsciously inspires all of Bowden’s lyrics.

“My dad passed away when I was 10,” Bowden said. “And I don’t even mean to sing about him, it just sort of comes out. It’s not until later that I realize it was my dad I was talking about.”

Underneath the talent, old soul, and desire to make a difference in the world, Bowden is your ordinary college student at heart. He enthusiastically talked about his love for video games, long distance girlfriend and Grammy Award winning artist, Adele.

With the hopes of moving to a more artistically inclined city after graduation, Logan explained just how little he actually likes being a solo artist.

“I don’t like doing it alone. It’s stressful. I just don’t have that ego that makes me want to be the center of attention. I like the cultural aspect of music and i like it to be a friendly thing where everyone comes and hangs out”

It’s his humble, modest, unpretentious demeanor that attracts listeners from all across the nation to Logan’s earthy, honest, and vibrant folk lyrics. As many of the greats before him, there have been moments in his career that have prompted the ever looming thought of giving up.

“It’s definitely something that everyone thinks about,” Bowden said. “But, I’m sort of like a slave to it. I can’t give up because there’s nothing else that I enjoy or love so I just keep going back. I go between loving music and hating it while still needing it and it’s just really odd.”

Now, as he prepares for his upcoming concert at Moody Recital Hall on November 20 at 7:30 p.m., Logan wants those who get to meet him and hear him perform to walk away fully grasping his message to the world. Which is:

“Know that even the smallest act of kindness goes such a long way and to hang in there, because we are all struggling in this thing we call life but in the end, we are all going to get through it.”