Logan Richard is one of music’s rarest creatures—a compelling and diverse songwriter who also shreds. The PEI-born-and-based artist has been sharpening both skills since he first picked up the guitar as a pre-teen, building a reputation as a deft, genre-fluid songsmith and peerless hired gun for some of Canada’s most exciting musicians. Influenced by his axe-slinging brother, artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer, his dad’s record collection, and his Acadian mom’s fiddle-playing family, Richard hit the stage at just 12 years old, cutting his teeth playing gigs around the island with a blues group filled out by his fellow young peers. He’s built his career as both a solo artist and in-demand live and session player, racking up experience over more than a decade and playing everywhere from dim blues dives to historical soft-seaters. All the committed hours have refined his work with nuances in technique and composition that allow him to express his many multitudes—a predilection that powers and deepens his new record, and reveals the wide scope of Richard’s artistry.