As seen in Guitar Girl Magazine Issue 18 Winter 2021 – Women in the Music Industry
My parents made me get my first volunteer job by the age of 17. At first, I hated it because I was more interested in playing guitar in my garage. Little did I know, I would learn the values of hard work from a young age and giving back to the community. These became pillars of my work ethic. The experiences influenced how I approached the work that would come before me down the road. By the time I graduated from my alma mater Spelman College in 2014, I had begun a nonprofit job running after-school programming for students in low-income communities of color. This job opened my eyes to the severe gaps in education and environmental resources within various communities. I knew from there that I wanted my career to involve intentionally including communities that don’t have a seat at the table. I was not sure how I could intentionally do that through the lens of music, but I knew TxLips Band, LLC. had to have a framework that involved education and community development.
Over the years, I experimented with the fusion of music, nonprofit, and law. I eventually created a model that would sustain all three while leaving room for the art of creativity. The TxLips Band is first and foremost an international collective of all Black female and non-binary musicians. I build my band based on my show, music video, and studio needs. A few years later, we developed The TxLips Academy. The nonprofit leg of my company was born out of the severe need for music education. It was important to me that we contribute to the world outside of music. TxLips Academy actively partners with several camps to provide instrument and music business education to the younger generations coming up in the industry.
While I was attending Vermont Law School, I realized the bigger need for legal education. There are so many artists in the music industry that do not understand the business happening on their behalf. Oftentimes, this results in bad contracts, loss of ownership of your masters, no control over your brand, and more. TxLips Band, LLC. doubles as a self-management firm dedicated to providing the education resources artists need to define their own success.
In 2019, we quickly developed TxLips Give Back, which is much more than a one-day community event. We wanted to set the tone for how artists and the communities contributing to their success develop and grow with each other. Every year, TxLips Band, LLC partners with various organizations with one goal in mind; to positively impact communities by meeting people where they are. We strive to maintain our long-term partnerships with nonprofit organizations whose mission and work align with uplifting the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. By working with these local businesses, we’re able to provide food, clothing, and access to resources and education-based workshops to expose youth to careers in music, business, and law.
This year, I decided to host TxLips Give Back in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, two cities that raised me. We partnered with local nonprofits Lost n’ Found Youth and Casa Ruby, both focus on providing resources to queer BIPOC youth. We chose to partner with these nonprofits to continue supporting them and others like them as they continue to uplift youth. Providing direct support to nonprofits and schools in your community truly makes a huge difference. You never know who you may inspire by simply showing up. I am thankful for those that gave back to the communities I came from, those I have met, and those that I may never meet. That support gave me a stacked platform to launch from, and your community support may give that future rockstar the opportunity to begin a life-changing career that might change their life.
“Guitar Gabby” Logan is an Atlanta Native and proud graduate of Spelman College and Vermont Law School. Her background in environmental and music law fueled her desire to start and manage the international touring collective, TxLips Band, LLC. Logan believes it is important for artists to be well-rounded and versed in many areas of the music business, thus inspiring women and female-identifying musicians worldwide to be an unstoppable force. She is currently a writer for Guitar World Magazine and She Shreds Magazine, the Board Chair of Girls Rock Asheville, a Voting Member of the Recording Academy, The President for the Girls Rock Camp Alliance Board of Directors, and the Diversity Editor for Guitar Girl Magazine.
