You probably already know the name Logan Mize.
The Kansas native released his debut album in 2009, but over the past few years he’s been putting out the best music of his career with albums like Still That Kid and Welcome to Prairieville.
But what you may not know is that his wife, Jill Martin, is also a singer. And a damn good one.
So it only makes sense that the two would team up to record together.
The husband and wife duo recently dropped their first EP together, The Mizes, a six song project that presents an honest reflection of their life together as parents and artists.
We spoke with Logan and Jill about the project – and their story, as the two of them are from towns 30 minutes apart in Kansas but didn’t meet until they both got to Nashville.
As Jill explained:
“I moved to Nashville, and a friend of a friend of a friend was like, ‘Well there’s this guy from Clearwater who lives there, you should call him.’
I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna call this guy and be like, hey, you sing, I sing.’
But we ended up connecting.”
It wasn’t exactly love at first sight for Jill though, according to Logan:
“We started out just writing songs together. We would get together and write.
She told her mom she would never date me. At some point she changed her tune, so joke’s on here.”
But the two Kansas natives eventually found their way together in Music City, and Jill would ultimately go on to compete on season 10 of American Idol – but things changed quickly after her Idol journey was over:
“We were married at that point, and I auditioned at the Ryman for the judges…
Went out to Hollywood, and I did not feel good. I told the producer, ‘I think I’m going to faint.’ And he was like, ‘Well it’s probably nerves.
I’m like, no, I’m not even nervous. I just at this point felt like total crap. I got sent home, the next day took a pregnancy test and I was pregnant…
Of course it had to hit me right out there, but it’s a funny thing looking back because I’m glad it worked out that way.”
Jill and Logan eventually moved back to their home state of Kansas to raise their family. But as the couple pursued their own music careers while also balancing their lives as parents, they admitted that they didn’t write much music together.
But Jill would often join Logan onstage at his shows, and their husband and wife banter on stage along with their killer vocals led fans to crave more of the duo:
“Every time he’d do a show and I’d get up and we’d sing together, people after were like, ‘You guys should do more stuff together. You guys are so funny up there. It’s so entertaining to see you guys, basically bicker, on stage.’
And we were like, it would be kinda fun to write a record just making fun of marriage. It’s always been on the list but it’s always been on the backburner.”
But then the duo had a breakthrough, writing a song that would ultimately make the new EP, which encouraged them to keep going:
“‘Hitched Up’ just fell out one day and we were just like, ‘Well let’s just see. Let’s write some more.’
So it just kind of organically happened, even though we’ve wanted to do it for awhile. It just seemed like the right time.”
And Logan says that it was easier writing the songs with his wife than it is for him to write solo:
“The songs did just fall out, a lot easier than normal. Sometimes I’ll sit up here for weeks trying to get through a chorus in my studio and it was like we were writing these songs in a couple hours tops.”
The result was a sometimes humorous, sometimes cynical, but always authentic look at marriage and parenthood through the lens of the husband and wife duo.
There’s “Look What Our Love Made,” a tender and grateful look at their life as parents. But then there’s also “The Honeymoon,” which presents a less rosy – but no less relatable – picture of marriage:
“The Opry’s down in Tennessee
Cow town’s up in Abilene
The devil and the IRS, well they both share the same address
God’s in heaven, the Pope’s in Rome
And the honeymoon’s over at home”
The songs evoke the classic duets of artists like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, or George Jones and Tammy Wynette – songs that are so relatable because they don’t make marriage seem like it’s always a bed of roses.
And that’s what they were going for, according to Logan:
“I think the Conway and Loretta thing was appealing, just because they kinda poke fun at each other.”
Jill quickly adds:
“If I quit making fun of you, that’s how you know I don’t love you anymore.”
But they also wanted to make an album that was honest, which is why Jill says songs like “Trouble in Paradise” will be so relatable – because it’s real:
“Anyone that’s been married longer than a couple years, you’re going to have those shitty days… That one was easy to write because it is true, so I definitely think we tapped into, let’s not shy away from something that admits we have flaws in our relationship. I think it’s good to be vulnerable.”
Overall, Jill and Logan say they’re just having fun with the project for now, but hope to be able to tour together as The Mizes at some point in the future:
“We can’t really tour as The Mizes right now very much, but we’d like to set ourselves up so that when the kids graduate, we started pretty young so we’ll still be in our 40s, so it would be nice to be able to set ourselves up to tour and play when they’re off at college.”
And when the time does come for The Mizes to hit the road together, they’ve already got a killer album of music to start with – and one that fans of duos like Conway and Loretta are sure to enjoy.
“The Honeymoon”
“Look What Our Love Made”
“Trouble in Paradise”
