Hatchback: Mountain music for city slickers

Hatchback, a Logan-based folk band, is scheduled to perform at Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU-LP’s Logan City Limits — a show highlighting local artists.   

The band was formed at Utah State University, where each of the members are currently students or alumni. 

“Nate [Ahlstrom] and I have been playing concerts together since the fall of 2022, but then Alex [McCain] joined our band, and we had our first show as Hatchback here in Logan on April 1, 2024,” said Jack Brady, a guitarist in the band. “Then Chet [Germer] joined last fall, and we played together with the complete four members on Sept. 16, 2025.” 

The first concert with all four members took place at the grand opening of the Carolyn & Kem Gardner Learning & Leadership Building.  

 “We all moved to Logan for school, and so this is kind of a home base for us, where folk music started for a lot of us,” Brady said. 

 Alex McCain said he joined the band after an injury ended his rugby season early.  

 “I hurt my knee and had gotten surgery, so I was out for rugby. I liked playing instruments, and that is when I met Nate and Jack, and then we started hanging out. I told them I knew how to play the banjo, so I started playing banjo on top of their guitars, and it kind of took off from there,” McCain said.  

 While Hatchback is based in Utah, they spent their first summer as a band traveling through Alaska.  

 “We lived in Ketchikan [Alaska], and we played a lot of shows up and down the island the whole summer,” McCain said.  

 McCain said this is where most of the debut album was written.  

 Hatchback’s first album is called “Best of Me,” and the title track has more than 20,000 streams on Spotify.  

 “It’s kind of like mountain music for city slickers,” McCain said. 

 Hatchback plans to release their sophomore album in the next few months. During a backyard concert in Logan on March 28, the band played a few of these new songs. 

 “This album will be like an accumulation of all kinds of different sounds coming together in a way that still feels harmonious,” Brady said.  

 Nate Ahlstrom described their music and performances as similar to a family dinner.  

 “Imagine the conversation gets a little crazy and there are a lot of different things going on, but it’s still collected and feels like family,” Ahlstrom said. 

 Brady said the band itself has begun to feel like a family. 

 “The music really brings us together, and I think that’s what it’s supposed to do, especially with folk music,” Brady said.  

 Brady said the band is grateful for the local support they’ve received.  

 “I feel like people in Logan, more than some other places, are more willing to get out and appreciate folk. They just thrive with the raw, not so polished sound, generally,” Brady said. 

 Logan City Limits is a free event that will take place at Carol and Jim Laub Plaza on April 11 — McCain’s birthday — from 6-10 p.m. 

 More details about Hatchback and their coming performances can be found on Instagram at @thehatchbackband.