At Come Toward the Fire, singer-songwriter Logan Staats values connections—to both audiences and other Indigenous artists
The Mohawk musician’s career trajectory has taken him from bar shows to The Launch to Nashville, but he’s always stayed grounded in his Six Nations community
Logan Staats. Photo by DannyShumov
Logan Staats plays the closing concert of Come Toward the Fire on September 20 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
MOHAWK SINGER-SONGWRITER AND land defender Logan Staats is closing out this year’s Come Toward the Fire Festival on September 20 with country ballads and a Nashville twang.
Born in Six Nations, Ontario, Staats began writing and performing music locally in his teens. Inspired by songwriting heroes from his community, such as Robbie Robertson of The Band, Staats’s music blends gritty rock, blues, and soul-searching storytelling.
“My dad always wanted to show me artists from our community in Six Nations,” Staats says in a phone interview with Stir. “He was constantly putting me in front of artists like Robbie Robertson and Derek Miller. It was guys like that who are embodied in my sound and have found their way into my music.”
Staats first began performing in local bars in his hometown of Brantford, Ontario. His career began to take off following the success of his 2018 single “The Lucky Ones” and his appearance and success on CTV’s The Launch, a Canadian reality music competition, the same year. Staats won the contest, bringing wider recognition.
“I was just like every other musician, scraping by, playing in the bars, playing five times a week to try to make ends meet,” Staats recalls. “A couple of people from The Launch approached me and asked me if I would be interested in doing the show. I thought about it for a long time because I just don't really vibe with competition shows. But, I ended up doing it and winning it, and it was a huge stepping stone in my career. It got me to the Juno nominations, to travelling the world and playing all over, so it was a huge part of my life.”
Connection to his people is one of the driving forces behind Staats’s music. Staats has been a passionate advocate for Indigenous communities across the country, recently playing at the Mikinakoos Fire Relief Show in Toronto; in it, Indigenous artists raised funds to support First Nations communities in Ontario displaced by this year’s wildfires. He has also spent time in Ontario schools connecting with and mentoring Indigenous students, believing that uplifting the next generations is an essential component of cultural healing.
“I think a lot of people from my generation have somebody in their family line who's been affected by residential school, and that's something that's affected me intergenerationally,” Staats says. “I wasn't raised with my teachings, I wasn't raised even knowing who I am, I don't have a Mohawk name. There was a huge separation for me and my culture and my community. When I close my eyes and I'm singing, that's the one place I know that I'm connected to Creator.”
Staats’s newest single, “Sacred Love”, a hushed piano ballad with Allison Russell, hints at the direction of his next album, Peacemaker, out on October 2. Staats will be bringing that same slow-burn intensity to the Chan Centre’s Come Toward the Fire festival this year. His upcoming album ushers in a new era of creative freedom and experimentation, written on the road travelling between Canada and Nashville, while seeking musical collaborators. In the end, he completed the production of the album in his home base at Six Nations, creating a project that is ultimately grounded in his values of community and belonging.
“My last album got nominated for a Juno, which made things a lot easier for my next project,” Staats says, referring to his sophomore release A Light in the Attic. “I was able to put more thought into the instrumentation and the production and handpick musicians from across the country that I love. It was the first time I had the ability to really do that and sink my teeth in that way creatively, because I've never worked with a budget on any of my records. So for me to have financial support and backing and just to creatively dream on this project was really cool.”
Ultimately, community connection is what Staats says makes his career meaningful. Indigenous-led performances and festivals such as Come Toward the Fire present not only an opportunity to share his music with new audiences, but also to gather with other Indigenous artists on a similar journey. (Staats is appearing at the closing concert that includes Oji-Cree headliner Aysanabee, as well as rising Haisla pop-rap star Boslen.)
“I think my favorite memories are really rooted in community,” Staats says. “In the Indigenous music scene, we're all family, we're all cousins. So backstage a lot of the time is like a huge reunion, and I love that about the Indigenous music scene. I love that about my cousins and my peers and our people across Turtle Island: that we can celebrate each other, we can help build each other up, and we can empower one another and support one another in whatever each of us has going on.”
Staats’s career is about more than just the music itself, but also using his voice to uplift the values he lives by.
“The thing that inspires me the most is connection to the land,” Staats concludes. “A lot of my music is rooted in that connection to the land—serving the land and protecting the land, and also the land doing the exact same thing for us. That's been on the forefront of my mind right now, especially with all these devastating fires that climate change is causing and sweeping across Turtle Island, and our communities being displaced. Outside of my normal touring and creative life, I'm always trying to think, how can I use my gift from Creator to protect and serve the land and help my community?"
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