Fredericton — “Big Rocks, small rocks, all across the bay/ Short rocks, tall rocks, what more can I say?”
The singer finished her song. Then, after placing the guitar pick between her teeth, she sadly looked out into the audience at the Capital bar on Friday night and said: “That was the last song I ever wrote.”
Kelsey Logan, the artist behind the classic New Brunswick tunes “Too Many Irvings,” “Reverse-Falling for You” and “Trees, Trees, Trees” told The Manatee that now, at age 34, she is already planning for her retirement.
“I had started my music career with a mission statement,” she said, “and that mission was to become a true New Brunswick musician. To embody what it means to be an artist living and working in this province.”
Logan’s music has graced local farmers’ markets and college radio for almost 10 years now, gaining her a sizable audience of loyal followers.
“My wife and I saw her every once in a while at the market,” said Patrick Austin, a Fredericton local. “Marsha, God rest her soul, was quite taken with her. Personally, I thought she was a little repetitive. I mean — I get it — trees, apples, big lobsters, whatever! She can sing well enough, though, I suppose.”
And sing well enough she did. Logan’s career hit its high point in 2010 with the release of her first and only album, Envy in N.B., which was recorded by Malcolm Duguay in the legendary CHSR studio.
Duguay had this to say about recording the album:
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she recorded it here … She’s the one with the long blonde hair, right? Kind of frizzy?”
Logan said that ending her career was a tough decision to make, but that there just wasn’t any more material she could squeeze out of this province. “I sing what I see … and I’ve just sort of seen everything, I guess.”
But Logan’s retirement will not be filled with relaxation, tea and cheesecake from now on. “I can’t technically afford to retire quite yet,” she said. “But, luckily, I’m the same age now as most people are when they get out of university these days.”
She then squinted, looking out the window into the Tannery … like a metaphor for looking toward her future, or something.
“So I’m not too far behind,” she said, smiling.