Rarely do music fans have the good fortune to see and hear a performer as talented and universally loved as Logan Wells. From country music to pop and rock, big band, oldies, 1950s medleys, gospel and inspirational, blues, and jazz, Logan has been delighting audiences not only locally, but throughout the country for over ten years. We visited with Logan recently, and listened as she described her musical journey into the hearts and souls of music lovers everywhere;
At a neighborhood block party in the early 1990s, one of our neighbors who was a DJ brought along his equipment and gave everyone a turn to get up and sing a song. When they asked me to sing a song I refused. I didn't know if I could sing or not and I certainly didn't want to embarrass myself. I finally got up enough nerve to sit behind a large speaker and sing a Patsy Cline tune. As I was signing, I heard everything get quiet and people begin to ask, "Who's singing? It sounds just like Patsy Cline!" Once I heard that, they couldn't take the microphone out of my hand the rest of the night. Everyone was amazed. I sang songs by some of my favorite singers, like Karen Carpenter and Olivia Newton John, and discovered I have a knack for imitating voices.
Some time later we went to dinner with friends at a place that was having a karaoke contest with a first prize of $100.00. They encouraged me to give it a try, so I did and won the contest. Afterward, I began to drag my husband to karaoke places and within the first year I had entered fifteen contests and won every single one of them. I won money, free dinners, a trip to Las Vegas, and $2,500.00 at the Ohio Karaoke Championships in Canton, Ohio. That's when I realized that it might be a good idea to give more attention to singing. At the time I was a home crafter, and singing was a lot more exciting than sitting in my basement making potpourri pies!
My husband and I are members of the Royal Redeemer Church in North Royalton, and they wanted to hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to help pay for their new Christian activity center. They persuaded me to be the entertainment and I needed to decide exactly what I would sing. Since every time I had won karaoke contests I had been singing Patsy Cline songs, I thought that maybe we should do a tribute to Patsy Cline. I researched Patsy's life and career, and put together a show with my husband as the narrator and myself singing the songs.
The program had been written, but I didn't know anything about the equipment, the microphones, or where we could get the background music. I began to pray about it, saying, "If this is something you want me to do, you're going to have to help me out here, Lord, because I'm really lost." Not thirty seconds later the telephone rang and it was Craig Baker calling to tell me some news about his business. Toward the end of our conversation, Craig asked what we had been up to lately, and I explained that we were doing a tribute to Patsy Cline for our church, but didn't know anything about putting the equipment side of the program together. Craig told me he had a lot of equipment in his basement just sitting there and that he'd love to help us get organized. He helped us put that show together and was very instrumental in assisting us with promotion and coming up with ideas and songs.
After the church fundraiser, we started doing the Patsy Cline tribute at festivals, local clubs, nursing homes, and retirement centers. It not only gave me an opportunity to get comfortable in front of an audience, but I was also able to make a good living. This was all good experience, but I wasn't able to get the headlining positions at fairs, festivals, and corporate functions because I didn't have a live band and I was mainly doing country music.
I put a band together and have been very lucky to be able to work with some very talented people. We started to add more variety to our mix, and began to do everything from pop and rock, to big band, oldies, 1950s medleys, blues, a little jazz, and, of course, country music. We've performed in a wide variety of venues, ranging from private parties to weddings, corporate functions, holiday parties, fairs, festivals, and all the way up to the Las Vegas Hilton. We tailor each show to meet our clients' individual needs and preferences.
One of the most exciting projects we're involved in at the moment is CDBaby.com, an online record store that sells CDs by independent musicians. They're the largest seller of independent CDs on the Internet and only sell CDs that come directly from the musicians themselves without the aid of distributors. You can buy a single song for about a dollar a song, or an entire CD for between $16.00 and $18.00 including shipping. They stock our Tribute to Patsy Cline CD which features a lot of the songs from our tribute show, and another called Been There Done That that includes nine songs that I wrote as well as some traditional tunes.
The CD I came out with in January 2006 is called Let It Shine. It's an inspirational album that includes songs of faith and hope, such as the traditional gospel favorites Amazing Grace, In The Garden, and Just a Closer Walk, in addition to Wade in the Water, Coat of Many Colors, The Rose, and God Bless the USA. God Bless the USA is the song I sang to over 30,000 people at President George W. Bush's election rally in Westlake, Ohio, and the White House staff was so impressed I was asked to perform for First Lady Laura Bush at the IX Center in Cleveland.
I also do jingle and voice-over work for commercials, including work for American Greetings. We were featured on Fox TV 8 in May of 2006, and we recorded a new jingle for Andre's Coffee Quiz. In addition to our full scale productions, I provide entertainment for those with smaller budgets. I can sing live with pre-recorded music, and I have a duo with my guitar player. I have a trio that includes myself, a guitar player and a keyboard player, and of course my regular band which includes a drummer. For bigger shows, we can add steel guitar, a fiddle, and occasionally a bass player. I offer everything from just myself to a seven piece band.
Logan Wells' warm style, remarkable voice, and great stage presence guarantee rave revues from all who are fortunate enough to hear her perform. Call Logan Wells today, and don't forget to tell her The Advocate sent you!
