Country star Logan Crosby celebrates new era at the Radio Room: Upstate Beat

Georgia singer-songwriter Logan Crosby, who performs at Greenville’s Radio Room on Feb. 5, has just put out a new single that was made for rolling your windows down and blasting it to the heavens.

“So Damn Free,” the aforementioned new single, is both a reaffirmation of Crosby’s sound and a step forward. His previous album, called “2019,” hewed pretty closely to the modern country sound, with catchy choruses, a splash of rock instrumentation and a healthy dose of honky-tonk twang.

There are elements of that style in “So Damn Free,” but it’s fresher. The song is an anthem, with a chorus made for stadiums and an infectious momentum.

“We were pedal to the metal ’til the needle shakes/Michelin spinning down the PCH,” he sings in the adrenaline rush of the chorus, pining for the time when he and his friends felt, well, “So Damn Free.”

Crosby’s tour is called the “So Damn Free” tour, but it’s not strictly because of his new single. He’s feeling a lot freer these days.

“I’ve been very open about this,” Crosby said in our interview. “I’ve struggled with alcohol abuse. I’ve been sober now for about five months. And so, this entire tour, this entire year, is about this freedom that I have that I’ve never had before. It doesn’t even feel like the tour is to promote the single. It’s to promote this phase of life.”

Having said that, the single is important because it represents a definitive break from mainstream country into something more personal for Crosby.

“I have so many influences that aren’t country,” he said. “I have a massive painting of David Bowie in my house. I love Adele. I grew up listening to (hip-hop artist) Khalid. So, there are these different things that I draw from. And now I feel like as an artist I get to put all of those things into my music.”

It might be a departure, but so far Crosby’s audience is coming along for the ride. He’s always had a strong connection with his fans, with even his deep album cuts racking up hundreds of thousands of streams.

“We played an unreleased song for them last night and they absolutely loved it,” he said. “They were jumping up and down and even dancing to it. If it’s coming from the depths of your soul, people are going to connect to that.”

See other music columns from Vincent Harris