Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
He was the almost 38-year-old new kid on the block. One of those darn millennials who dare to have new ideas and a new way of thinking.
And in some ways, that’s just what the music and arts festival – which was starting to show its age at 46 – needed. And while he was welcomed by the organization’s Board of Directors, there was still some trepidation on both sides. Shake things up a little, just not too much.
But he was excited about his new gig and wanted to deliver on his promise to bring new energy to the event. So, he booked Big Fredia, a hip-hop singer known as the larger-than-life ambassador of New Orleans Bounce music. At least that’s her website’s description.
Oh, hip-hop singers had performed at the festival, but they weren’t like Big Fredia.
“This is one that was present, new, and just different than what people were used to. Fredia is a trailblazer. She’s trans (as in transgender.) She’s tall – like really tall.”
Big Fredia is also described on her website as “a loud and proud advocate for racial and gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights.”
Some of the festival’s old-timers were a bit concerned.
“I had vendors who were like, ‘What in the world is going to happen here?’ They had no clue . . . . A board member would tell them, ‘We’re going to have this act, and there’s going to be a whole line of girls twerking on stage.’ They were like, ‘What?’”
A promise kept, there was Big Fredia on stage, headlining opening night. Tatted-up arms. Long, colorful nails. Lyrics that would make conservatives blush.
There was also a crowd. A big crowd. Bigger than what the new kid with the new ideas expected.
“I walked out to the top floor of the Sam’s Town parking garage, all the way out to the corner. I looked down Commerce Street and saw all these cars, food trucks, vendors, and a significant number of people downtown. There was a huge sense of pride. We did this. We’re responsible for this party of people . . . . It just felt really good.”
Logan Lewis, now in his third year as Executive Director of the Red River Revel, told me that story, and his story, over lunch at The Glass Hat. Taking a break from preparing for the September 28th-October 6th festival, Logan had chicken fried steak, turnip greens, pinto beans, a roll, and water. I enjoyed fried catfish, turnip greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and water.
I wasn’t surprised at the location of the restaurant Logan chose.
“I rarely eat lunch outside of downtown . . . . I think the Revel director should be one of those people who is part of the downtown daily life.”
Born in Minden and raised in Ruston, the oldest of three children will tell you he is a perfect fit for the Revel. Logan is a musician, having played guitar since his grandmother bought him one when he was 14. Logan is also a promoter, a skill he first showed when he was 16.
“I had some friends who were seniors in high school who had a band. They really wanted to have a concert with two Christian bands from California. I signed the contract – I didn’t tell my folks about this – to bring these two bands to town. I called city hall and reserved Railroad Park. I figured out how I was going to pay the taxes . . . . I charged five dollars a head. We made enough to pay the bands and make a little bit of money.”
Logan finished high school in South Carolina, the result of Logan’s father taking a new job. Logan stayed in-state and went to Anderson College. He studied Church Music, was worship leader for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was in three different music groups, and took piano and voice lessons.
“I was overly involved in music.”
But Logan became less involved, thanks to the perception of being known by the company you keep.
“A buddy of mine was on the soccer team. I went to a party. At that school, the soccer players were the bad kids. They were drinking. I got kicked out of everything I was involved in just for being there. That’s when I decided to come back to Ruston. It was really weird. It was a tough lesson in the way not to behave with grace and love as Christians should. It was a different time. It was a different place.”
However, another time and another place once again resulted in Logan feeling let down by his love for church music. He and a friend were asked to be the house band at a local watering hole.
“Some of the people didn’t like that we were playing music in a bar. They more or less forced me out of a leadership group. That’s when I was like, ‘I’m really not going to do this again. I’m not going to get involved or play worship music anymore.’”
Those experiences left Logan feeling a bit bitter. He admittedly had trouble finding his way after graduating from Louisiana Tech with a degree in Speech Communication. (By the way, Logan’s grandparents were E.J. Lewis and Patsy Lewis, stalwarts of the university.)
A brief stint working in fine dining in Houston. Sales and management for a flatbed trucking company. Running a po-boy restaurant in Lafayette.
“I never really felt like I got going after college.”
But a newborn named Asher got Logan’s attention.
“Having that little boy, I just made a life change.”
It was time to grow up.
“From a high-minded or esoteric mindset, that makes you think about what you are doing with your life. But in a direct way, what’s right in front of you, I wanted to provide for my kid. I didn’t want to live with my parents the rest of my life. I wanted to get married. I wanted to have a family.”
Logan’s new-found motivation led him to an inside ticket sales position at Tech. After five years, he became the head of corporate sponsorships with Shreveport’s Independence Bowl. In 2021, after playing at the Revel, Logan learned the event would soon be looking for a new leader.
“A job where I get to do my first love, music and art? I closed on that harder than I think I have any other sale. I don’t think I even let them interview anybody else, I wanted it so badly.”
Logan got what he wanted, and the Revel did, too.
“I walked into a really good situation for me with the timing, coming in post-Covid. I think the Revel was definitely in need of some new direction, some new ideas, some outside perspective. The Board was at a place where they wanted that, too, so it wasn’t like I was walking into a battle. We took some chances and changed some stuff, and we really did have a great impact.”
Knowing Logan needed to get back to work on making a great impact on this year’s Revel, I asked my final question. As always, what is it about his life that someone could apply to their life? Logan chose to emphasize something he’s learned from several mentors.
“Focus on the solutions. Be solution-based. You can get in your feelings about the problems later. Nobody likes problems. It’s uncomfortable. It’s painful. Of course, the natural thing to do is to try to relieve that pain as quickly as possible. You can choose to do that by focusing on the root cause of the pain – how did that happen? Or you can focus on the solution to that pain.”
Even if that solution is a bit out-of-the-box. See Big Fredia.
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers.