Logan Halstead - “Man’s Gotta Eat”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 6

Pairs Well With…Jason Isbell, Noah Kahan, Tyler Childers

An album titled Dark Black Coal not only describes the lyrical content of Logan Halstead’s debut record, a blue-collar, Americana collection of tough times in flyover country, but also the mood that resides over the whole of the album. The Kentuckian artist employs a raw, gritted vocal, sparse acoustic accompaniment, and not much else to share his tales of grief and resilience. Given how lyrically focused his music is, the loneliness of his words matches the spareness of Halstead’s overall sound. Traditionally rooted, there’s a timeless nature to Halstead’s debut and these stories could be pulled from any decade the past 100 years. The struggle continues and we’re lucky Halstead has chosen to continue to weave those tales with minimalist grace. (Kevin McStravick)