Far from the sudden breakthrough suggested by his early acclaim, singer and songwriter Jack Logan possessed abundant creative gifts that stayed hidden for more than ten years until his 1994 debut Bulk earned widespread praise from critics. Born in southern Illinois, Logan moved after high school with his friend Kelly Keneipp to the small town of Winder, Georgia, situated near Athens, the long-standing musical center that had nurtured everyone from R.E.M. to the B-52's. During the mid-'80s he attracted limited underground attention by drawing a comic book that portrayed R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck as a superhero, yet he otherwise remained largely unknown; by day he and Keneipp worked at a local motor-repair shop, while evenings were given over to composing and taping songs alongside an ever-changing circle of friends and drinking companions.
Those homemade recordings eventually reached Buck, who passed them along to Minneapolis-based producer Peter Jesperson, renowned for discovering the Replacements. Jesperson got in touch with Logan and asked for a handful of cassettes; what arrived instead were roughly 600 songs accumulated across more than a decade. From that vast collection Jesperson selected 42 tracks for the album Bulk. Following the 1995 EP Out of Whack, Logan and guitarist/keyboardist Keneipp formed the band Liquor Cabinet and recorded the 1996 album Mood Elevator. Two years afterward Logan collaborated with Weird Summer frontman Bob Kimbell on the Parasol release Little Private Angel. Tinker, issued under the name Jack Logan's Compulsive Recorders, appeared in late 1998, and his solo effort Buzz Me In followed in 1999; the year closed with the EP Bring Me the Head of Kelly Keneipp/Mature.
Monkey Paw surfaced in spring 2001. In 2003 Logan launched an unusual venture with his friend and producer Kevin Lane: each Monday evening the pair convened with a group of friends, wrote three songs on the spot, and captured them at once on Lane's home equipment. The sessions yielded 94 songs, of which 15 were chosen for the 2005 album Nature's Assembly Line. In fall 2006 Logan reunited with Kelly Keneipp, Nicky Keneipp, Jason Gonzalez of Nutria, Rob Kellor of Workhorses, and Aaron Phillips to record the Third Creature album Orthodox Garage.
