We recently connected with Logan Miller and have shared our conversation below.

Logan, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

About five years ago, I decided to take the biggest risk of my life and start a record company out of St. Louis, MO with a good friend of mine. We had no money (or really anything that would’ve made this a good idea), but we each had some small industry connections, believed we made great music, and had a desire to see creatives in our city have a better way forward in music. We signed our first artist in early 2020 (Lloyd Nicks) and got to work on his music. We sent his first single to radio in August 2020 and were stoked to see it chart on Billboard Top 50 CCM for 21 weeks, peaking around #31. We kept grinding for the past few years, trying to raise money to compete with major labels throwing 6 figures at marketing and promotion. In 2022, my partner and I went separate ways and I was left running the label – bringing in another friend to help manage the finances. At the same time, running the label had really birthed an interest in entertainment law, so I began dreaming about potentially going to law school. I believed in what we were doing, so I kept grinding – even after investing thousands of my own money to see this dream happen.

I started law school in the fall of 2023, and around that time Lloyd wrote a song on one of those trips called “That’s My King.” We didn’t think much of it at the time. However, Cece Winans ended up hearing the song and decided to record it in the fall of 2023. The song came out in February of 2024 and we were thrilled to find it was the lead single on her new album. The song ended up going #1 on Christian and Gospel radio, both in the US and in Canada, was nominated for a Dove Award, and was ultimately nominated for a Grammy for Gospel Song of the Year.

Looking back, there were so many moments I wanted to just quit. I sometimes wonder why we were confident enough to start this company in the first place. But, long nights and a lot of hard work have a way of paying off in meaningful ways, even if it doesn’t lead you to the Grammy’s. For us, we’re incredibly lucky to celebrate all that has happened in the past year. Really though, it all goes back to a dream and a risk we took in 2020 to create something new for creatives in St. Louis.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m born and raise in St. Louis, MO – the son of lifelong professional musicians. No one has ever heard of my parents, but they raised me and my siblings by doing what they love for over 50 years, which is really special.

I began playing guitar around 10 years old and really took to it. I made the Missouri All-State jazz band in high school and went on a music scholarship to Emory University in Atlanta, GA. After college, I spent about 7 years playing music professionally, playing in churches, traveling with bands, and producing records. Through that time, I ended up launching a record label and publishing company called Kingly Common. For the past five years, I have worked to elevate artists and songwriters in St. Louis, MO and give them a chance to be heard around the country and world. I’m lucky now to say that we are Dove Award and Grammy Nominated, and we recently won a Billboard Music Award for Gospel Song of the Year – “That’s My King” performed by Cece Winans.

In 2023, I decided to take another leap and I started law school. I’m about halfway done at this point and plan on continuing my work as an entertainment attorney at the end of school. I still travel here and there with bands out of St. Louis and have had the privilege of continuing to do what I love even while I am in school.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I think one of the most important books on management/leadership is A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman. That book opened my eyes to the reality of the constant anxiety floating around in modern society. He writes that leaders need to be people with a non-anxious presence, and that one idea has really transformed how I operate. When I sit down for a meeting, I am always thinking about being someone who lowers the anxiety in a room. You can do that by being someone who listens well, asks good questions, and finds meaningful solutions to problems.

That book has taught me that I shouldn’t be afraid to chase ideas and try new things. I had enough skill and competency to get to this point, and I can trust that those same things will be there tomorrow even if I fail at something today. I think that’s an important lesson for leaders. Side note – it’s also an important lesson for songwriters. Don’t be afraid to try something outside of your comfort zone. You may be great at it and, worst-case scenario, you can just as easily go back to your old ways tomorrow.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a creative, for me, is that idea that every day we get to create something new and meaningful. As a publisher, I get to work with songwriters and help place them in rooms to create new music. I love that at the end of each day, I get to listen to work tapes of something that just simply didn’t exist this morning. Sometimes my favorite songs will die in the notes app of my phone. But sometimes, those same voice memos will go on to be a song that really changes someones life.

I’ve spoken about the song “That’s My King” that we are a publisher for. That song was nothing special to us when it was written. Yet, it just seemed to keep coming back to the top when other songs are easily forgotten about. The song has gone on to have millions of streams, been featured in a movie, and been nominated for several awards. However, that song has also been used in an ad for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and Lloyd and I have had the pleasure of playing for patients at St. Louis Children’s hospital. It’s pretty wild to hear stories of how a song that started as a voice memo has gone on to provide hope for people across the world who need it. As writers and creatives, we get a new opportunity each day to make something like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://loganmiller.us
• Instagram: @loganmillermusic
• Facebook: /loganmillermusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganjmiller/

Image Credits

Black and White Photos – Nate Rolland