By Sona Schmidt-Harris | [email protected]

It would be difficult to find anyone more enthusiastic than Logan Nelson. Not only is he enthusiastic about his musical pursuits, he is enthusiastic about everything, even hard work.

Nelson was named the Holladay Artist of the Month for May.

Nelson performed in the band Solarsuit while attending Olympus High School. Everyone in the band was from Holladay and they performed for seven years.

“We were talking to Atlantic Records,” Nelson said. The band eventually broke up, something which has been very difficult for Nelson. 

If there was one good thing that came of it, it was that it spawned him to write, direct and score “Cipher,” a short film based on a young man’s mental health struggles. He named the production company that created “Cipher,” Villa Theatre Co. after the iconic theater on Highland Drive now an upscale rug shop. The persistent Nelson was able to raise $35,000 for the project.

He then started the band Silver Cup, consisting of his family members. “I was always let down because my expectations were put so high,” he said. “So why don’t I just call these people that I know and trust? So, I started the band Silver Cup. My little brother has played bass for over 10 years. My little sister has been singing her whole life.”

“And let’s just make something in my basement. No more big studios, no more paying thousands of dollars,” Nelson added.

His instincts proved to be right on with Silver Cup. The group performed a song he wrote about Holladay, “Sabbath,” which turned out to be a hit online.

Nelson said that “Sabbath” was a great way to introduce themselves and was also an homage to their roots.

“We didn’t expect it to be anything,” he said. “We are still navigating around 25% interaction with all of our fans. The average is 1.6% per page.”

“Most of our fans are not from Holladay,” he said. Sabbath has over 13,000 streams in Chicago.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be an advantage to Silver Cup. “It’s been kind of fun to interact with fans. There are so many people on their phones right now. We have had a serious uptick in streams and also interactions,” Nelson said. “But it’s kind of sad because people are bored. People are looking for something to do.”

Nelson said it has been a mess for the music industry on the live performance side since most live concerts have been cancelled.

Technically trained in voice and guitar, Nelson has also taught himself about music from the internet. 

“My whole life I have been a writer. I love writing music. I love diving in deep,” he said.  “I started writing music at about 10 years old.” He wrote a song about frontiersman Jedediah Smith and received a lot of attention for that. He also wrote a song about Canada when he was a boy.

“I am a songwriter above all,” Nelson said.

Regarding his musical production talents, he said, “I like to capture soundscapes.”

Nelson bursts with optimism. “Every piece, every song, every work that any artist has ever done—they’re on the verge to make something even better.”

However, he does not shy away from hard work. “Persistence is important.”

If you would like to nominate yourself or another for Holladay Artist of the Month, please email [email protected].