Singer-songwriter Logan Mize has dropped his new record – Welcome to Prairieville – out everywhere today that showcases his most authentic music to date. Check out the record here.
Logan Mize’s latest offering – Welcome to Prairieville – out everywhere today, is the result of over a decade’s worth and love for the heartland. Mize created the fictional town of Prairieville in his mind over a decade ago, alongside his creative partner Blake Chaffin. It’s a place created in the duo’s imagination – a shared understanding of what it means to come from the Midwest, familiar characters, stories and the heart of what makes a small town.
The record opens up right in the centre of it all, with ‘George Strait Songs,’ a thrumming track obviously lyrically based in country, yet nodding sonically to heartland and 80s rock. It’s a celebration of his blue-collar roots, ‘I like the working blue crowd / Kinda rowdy, kinda loud on a Saturday night / And I like hanging around / Folks with rusty Chevys and old Coke signs.’ The track pulls straight into the title track, a song filled with all the charm of the place on which Mize has based the record – backed up with stunning whispers of strings. It is in the very specificity of Mize’s lyricism that is found the most charm as he sings about the places that made him who he is where, ‘Red tomatoes piled shoulder-high
Yeah, sweet Vidalias and everything in between… They strum a mess of oil rigs through his fertile fields / Welcome to Prairieville.’ It’s brim full of nostalgia and charm – a love letter to the place that made him.
Mize continues to fill in the picture of Prairieville throughout the record, embellishing details and rounding out the image he has created and it’s a place that feels utterly compelling. So, on ‘River Road,’ Mize walks down memory lane. ‘I go back to River Road / GMC, seventeen years old / Both those windows down / When the rain came pouring in / She went first and we never stopped / Two innocent hearts, forever lost / It’s so useless to think what might’ve been / But I go back, I go back to River Road.’ Sonically, the track contains as much nostalgia as the lyrics, while still allowing him the space to let rip vocally and instrumentally. Elsewhere, Mize celebrates the small joys of life. ‘If You Get Lucky’ is a a charming, thrumming track, encouraging the listener to take heed. ‘If you get lucky / You’ll watch your parents grow old / But either way you gotta let em go / If you get lucky / You’ll get half of what you wanted but / Hope you find the light before it calls you home.’ It’s a message hammered home on ‘Tell the Truth’ that cements the importance of honesty, without being preachy and on the rock-heavy ‘We Ain’t Broke’ that reminds of Brothers Osborne’s Pawn Shop, where Mize sings about the important things in life that can’t be bought.
‘Wine at the Church, Beer at the Bar’ is one of the most juicily enticing tracks on the record, where Mize unpacks the grittier side of his sound. It’s a blazing track celebrating the core of Southern values. ‘Sunday morning to Saturday night / We got you covered, you’ll be alright / So drink to forgive, drink to forget / Somewhere in the middle, there’s happiness.’ More than anything, Mize seems to be having immense fun on this track, pushing the boundaries of his sound, before moving into the pacier, driving beat of ‘Follow Your Heart,’ in which Mize yearns for a lover to return. ‘Follow the highway signs / Follow the long line of memories / Follow that little voice inside / That’s telling you right where you oughta be / Follow your heart,’ with more than a hint of 80s heart-rock. It could have stepped right off a 80s romantic high school movie set and the story seems to continue on ‘I Still Miss You,’ where Mize sings about the stubbornness of heartache, in a gently beating track that contains real heart.
Lyrically, the most important moment on the record is ‘I Need Mike,’ where Mize narrates the story of a man down on his luck. ‘Mike needs a job, Mike needs a car / Pawn shop ripped him off, lost a Fender guitar / Mike needs to straighten up his own life / I ain’t pointing fingers though, I need Mike.’ It’s a vital story about loss, brought to life on Mize’s heartbreaking video. Written solely by Chaffin, the tune tells the story of a young man who can’t seem to bounce back from the hardships in life – a tale that many know all-too-well. The clip ends with information for the Suicide Prevention Hotline, in the hopes that anyone who is struggling may see it and have a change of heart. It’s a powerful and important track that gives an immense gravitas to the record as a whole – powerful country-storytelling.
More than anything, Welcome to Prairieville is a celebration of the true heartland of America and the stories of real people – loss, blue-collar life, authenticity and heart. Mize’s songwriting is unparalleled, creating a raw and vivid picture of Prairieville that feels utterly compelling, brought to life by a stellar, 80s-tinged production and a stunning attention to detail in the lyrical complexity. It’s a record ten years in the making and it was worth the wait.
