By: David Rachac
Sitting around after a show this winter, I chatted with Logan Heftel, a young Spokane-based singer-songwriter who was spending the year in St. Paul attending McNally Smith College of Music for music production. He had just released his debut CD If It Does in December, and was nice enough to give me a copy and asked me to give it a listen. I was stunned by the quality of the songwriting and production. It may be one of the best independent releases that I have heard - a bright mixture of acoustic folk and radio-ready folk-pop with a maturity far beyond his nineteen years. Hearing him play those songs live at the Spring Street Bar only increased my admiration for his wondrous talent.
It is rare for an artist who is so early in his career to merge thoughtful songwriting, guitar playing and singing into such a professional package, and do it with seemingly little effort. Just a few seconds into his first song, I was amazed at how complete his live performance was - his finger-picking style sounded bright and lively, his voice warm and expressive, and he played harmonica with an impressive mixture of facile speed and restraint. Halfway through the song, the guy sitting next to me at the bar just shook his head and muttered "Damn!" - which was a pretty good explanation of the way I was feeling as well.
For the first half of the set, Heftel concentrated on songs from his CD, alternating between the softer, James Taylor-like confessionals and jazzier up-tempo songs. As the night went on, I found it more and more incredible that someone so young could write and perform as well as he does. So when he sang, "Twenty years to this day since this ship set sail" on a new song called "North Star" and the guy next to me started laughing and said, "Twenty years ago, he wasn't a twinkle in his daddy's eye," I couldn't help but laugh myself.
Heftel told an interesting story about the song "Better Than Cool," which came about as a songwriting exercise for a class -- to write a song around the decidedly uncool title the teacher had given them. With a jumpy John Mayer-like groove, the chorus of "Where can I find a form that aligns with all the rules/To come up with something better than cool?" saved the poppy song from being weighted down by its unfortunate title.
Logan Heftel will be recording songs for his second CD over the summer, as well as producing a couple of bands in the Spokane area. His live show schedule for the summer is still being finalized, but I would strongly recommend seeing this talented songwriter if you have the chance.
Location Info:
Spring Street Bar and Grill
Artist Info: Logan Heftel
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