Stopping At Nothing Is Julia Logue’s Biggest Reward
Photos provided by Julia Logue
By RayJaun Stelly
Coming straight out of Portland, the soulful singer-songwriter and musician inspired by jazz vocals and introspective lyrics, Julia Logue is a jack of all trades. She plays guitar which helps draw the elements of alternative, neo-soul, R&B, and jazz music that all complement her vocals fluently.
Logue’s talent has caught the eyes publicly being featured in Unclear Magazine, Under The Radar, The Luna Collective, Lefuturewave, Eleven Magazine, Lucid Magazine, Portland Mercury, Williamette Weekly, and Earmilk. Her music being played on Jazz FM UK, KMND 89.1 FM, 101.9 KINK.FM, Radio 1 Prague, XRay Fm, and WPSR (NY).
Alongside being known nationally, she has performed at the Quickly Quickly Tour in which she opened up for Quickly on the Pacific Northwest portion of his tour and opened up for Ruby Waters, Lewis Ofman, Mama Gun, and Nico Play. Gaining traction, Logue released her debut album titled ‘Welcome To Your Sunrise’ on December 29 of last year, expressing her self-doubt, her place in the world, connection to others, and trusting her higher self.
For Julia, music has also came to her and felt natural, eliminating any type of embarrassment she may have had, in addition to that music is embedded within her as Logue’s father was a musician in his own right and having the luxury of looking up to that she took that blueprint and ran with it.
“It started off feeling very natural, and I think this goes for a lot of kids you have a connection to music, it builds your self-confidence,” said Logue. “It’s something that you keep finding yourself doing, so I think it was something that felt natural that helped me to connect with other people which is the sole reason why I am still doing it now.”
The musical background was a plus, but the pandemic hit she faced an obstacle of not knowing how to find people to play with, due to the laws that were in place because of Covid-19 she was unable to meet with people and actually play music. But luckily for Logue throughout college she was able to sharpen her skill set because she was in fact able to play music, and having that work ethic carried over.
“Portland is a music city, really rich in culture and community, so I just kept reaching out and making connections through Instagram direct messaging,” said Logue. “My current drummer and good friend, who produced a lot of the album. I was a fan of his band in college and being open about liking his music, then I asked if he would come play in my parents garage.”
Her continued work ethic despite the pandemic, she continued to allow music to be the vehicle for connection and help her continue to learn about herself, and doing whatever it takes to continue to play. When reflecting on the obstacles she had to face, Logue came out on the other side victorious.
“Navigating it all, I think now looking back on the struggles or anything that appeared difficult, I have a lot more forgiveness toward myself,” said Logue. “Whatever challenges come up, I am lucky that I have a community here in Portland that I trust and I feel really supported by older musicians that have experiences.”
Planting the seeds to her tree throughout the pandemic, Logue is now seeing the fruits of her labor despite not boxing herself into one genre of music, when she’s performing live and seeing how her music is affecting people, that brings joy and the motivation to continue doing it.
“I think artists get locked into their genres and that’s really cool, but that is not where I see my music going,” said Logue. “I feel like the music I am making now is pretty different sounding, what remains is my voice and I can sing in different ways with an edge of soul to it that pull me in personally.”
Logue continued, “I don’t feel designated to just one genre, but I do commend people for mastering a genre I think that’s amazing.”
In totality Logue’s message within her music is about acceptance of all parts of yourself, as an artist she takes pride in being honest because it allows the audience to connect and see themselves in the song.
“I can’t write about things that aren’t true to me, being honest and hopefully the reflection of that is for people to feel more accepting of whatever feeling or emotion they’re going through,” said Logue. “This project, there was a motive to connect with your higher self, connecting with that part of yourself that knows something that you don’t quite know yet.”
Julia will perform live at Sosta House on July 12, July 14 at Holocene, and on July 30 she is opening up for MAE.SUN. Keep up with all things Logue on Instagram @Julialoguemusic.
