Dolly Parton in the making? 12-year-old singer has already recorded four albums

Photo by Clay Owen, News Sentinel

Listen to Logan Murrell sing

Photo by Clay Owen

Logan Murrell, 12, stands beside a trailer that bears her image. It is used to haul equipment to her performances.

She is poised and focused, a slender blonde with a frequent smile and beautiful voice.

She is also a seventh-grader who likes math.

Twelve-year-old Logan Murrell of Knoxville is an accomplished singer with four albums and a stage presence akin to another East Tennessee blonde named Dolly Parton.

Logan's been performing longer than she can recall. Julie Murrell was amazed when she heard her then-23-month-old daughter sitting in a high chair singing "This Is The Day" between munching dry Cheerios. Logan had memorized both words and music at the church Julie and Bob Murrell then attended. Since there was no nursery, she always sat in the service with her parents.

When the church minister learned Logan could sing, he invited her to sing "This Is The Day" before the congregation. When she finished, she ran to her mother sitting in a pew. But when the music began for the service's next song, "What A Mighty God We Serve," Logan jumped off Julie's lap. And raced back to the front of the church to sing that, too.

At 4 Logan began piano lessons; she now also plays the guitar and mandolin. At 7, she sang at the Tennessee Valley Fair. By the time she was 9, she was earning money singing. She performed with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra at 10 and in the Knoxville Opera's "LaBoheme" at 11. Now she averages six to 15 engagements a month, from performances at theaters to private parties.

But that's Logan the singer. She's also what her mother calls "a normal" young girl. She likes to go to the movies; she wonders what she'll wear to a school dance. The Halls Middle School student likes to hang out with best friend Elesibeth McMurray. And says a benefit to performing is that "it's so much fun to me just to meet new people."

Logan often sings traditional country songs accented with bluegrass and blues. Her voice, she says, "is still in my transition from a kid to a more mature voice. I'm working on my range and strength of my voice."

Her favorite artist is James Taylor but her repertoire's 75 to 100 songs include those made famous by such country music female icons as Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith, Patsy Cline and Parton. Parton's "Dumb Blonde" is a standard and a favorite. Logan is in the planning stages of a fifth album. She's learning more about music production and writing some of her own songs, too.

Some of the money she makes singing goes into projects like musical equipment or the expense of making a compact disc. If she performs for tips and CD sales, Logan gets to keep all the dollar tips as spending money. Her sister, Taylor, 4, gets the coins. While Taylor received more than $600 in change from Logan's 2007 tips, her singer sister doesn't spend many of those dollar bills.

The majority of Logan's earnings goes into a college savings account. That account, Julie Murrell stresses, is at the Clayton Bank and Trust. Bank founder and fellow musician Jim Clayton is a musical but not a financial supporter for Logan, says her mother. He and Logan have sung together, and she has performed at Clayton-sponsored events. He's also given her tips about music and money, like how to hold her guitar and how to save her earnings, Logan says.

Being a youngster and a performer requires choices. Often Logan, who says she feels "free" on stage, chooses performing. Last November instead of taking a school field trip, she sang and gave away CDs to patients at the Shriners' Hospital for Children in Lexington, Ky.

Photo by Chad Greene

Stan Williamson, left, accompanies Logan Murrell as she performs at a corporate Christmas party in mid-December.

"I felt so blessed that day. They were smiling and smiling. It really warmed my heart," she says.

Before she began to focus on music, Logan was a competitive swimmer. She quit at 9. "I miss it. But I think I chose the right thing," she says.

Her goals include combining her two interests. She'd like one day to open a camp or a school for underprivileged, talented children. Its musical program would hone their abilities. Its swimming pool could offer them exercise.

After high school she wants to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston. "Hopefully something will take off," she says. "I know I will do something the rest of my days with music."

Amy McRary may be reached at 865-342-6437.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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