Plenty of veteran rock stars remember their music dreams being born on the night of February 9, 1964, when The Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. Payton Smith can relate: At 5 years old, he watched Keith Urban take the stage at the CMA Awards and knew from that moment on he wanted to be a country singer... with a twist."I would love to bring a new audience to country music," he explains. "I want to bring rock fans, pop fans and John Mayer's fans along. Genre doesn't matter - music is about making a connection. People just want to relate to something and feel something just like I did when I first saw Keith on TV."
A self-taught guitarist and songwriter with an appreciation for '90s country and guitar rock, the Louisiana native caught his big break in 2018 when he played one of the smaller stages at CMA Fest. With all the confidence of a headliner, the unknown 18-year-old played his heart out on original tunes like "92" and "Like I Knew You Would." The performance earned him a record deal, and the following year he released his debut, self-titled EP, featuring the tracks "Can't Go Wrong With That" and "What It Meant To Lose You."
With a Grand Ole Opry debut and the promise of a spot on Chris Young's Town Ain't Big Enough tour, 2020 looked like a bright year before the world went dark. In the midst of the pandemic, Smith kept making music, including his YouTube series It Started With A Song, with dreams of getting back on stage fueling his efforts.
In our Songfacts interview, Smith tells the stories behind his new songs "I'm Fine" and "Sounds Like A Good Time," and gives a behind-the-scenes look at his video for "This Ain't That Song."
Amanda Flinner (Songfacts): As someone who has such a diverse taste in music, what was it that drew you to country music in particular?Payton Smith: The realness of life in country music is always what has inspired me. It's real stories about real people. And the instrumentation reminds me of home. Ever since I was a kid, I always knew I was going to sing country music.
Songfacts: You've worked with some major songwriters like Ronnie Bowman, Casey Beathard, and Craig Wiseman. What is the most valuable piece of advice you've learned about songwriting?
Smith: I've learned so much from many of my heroes, and the one thing that I continue to learn is be yourself when it comes to writing. Don't chase anything. Don't chase hits or the fads. Chase the creativity, and focus on writing the best song that connects you with your audience. Uptempo, ballad, somewhere in the middle.
Ever since coming to Nashville, I've felt extremely blessed to have people always remind me that it's all about the song first. To me that's what truly makes a hit song a hit song.
Songfacts: From a lyrical standpoint, what song from another artist do you admire and why?
Smith: The line in "Springsteen" by Eric Church, "Funny how a memory sounds like a melody" ... To me, that's music. It takes you right back to a moment in time and it makes you feel something. I think we're all trying to write a line as good as that one.
Songfacts: How did the pandemic affect your songwriting process? Did it influence the tone or subject matter in any way?
Smith: Oddly enough, it made me write high-energy songs because I was craving wanting to play live again. I was writing a lot with thinking of the audience of when we're able to be back on stage and feel the concert energy. I also felt like I had to dig deep on some songs, and really write songs that are very personal to me. It's been a roller coaster of a year, and I think that songwriting was a lot like that this year as well. I was channeling all of those feelings.
Songfacts: Okay, we've talked about lyrics, but what has been your proudest guitar-shredding moment in one of your songs so far?
Smith: Those are some of my favorite moments live because getting to play a guitar solo is like having another voice. We have a song called "What It Meant To Lose You." When we play that live, at the end of that, we have a massive build up on a shred solo. I feel like I go into a different world... and hopefully take the audience with me.
Songfacts: At Songfacts, we like to get the stories behind the songs. What can you tell us about "Sounds Like A Good Time"?
Songfacts: What's the story behind the song "I'm Fine"?
Smith: I wrote "I'm Fine" at the beginning of 2019 but it took on a whole new meaning in 2020. I always had that title on my phone and I've loved how people have turned the saying "I'm fine" into a saying that says you're not really fine. I thought it was extremely relatable and was thankful my co-writers saw the same vision. The song really tells a story as well. I love how sarcastic it is. Like if you ran into an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend out on the town somewhere and what I think you would say to them if you weren't really over that relationship.
Songfacts: "Creek Don't Rise" shows off your sense of humor. Is it true that one was inspired by a real date-gone-wrong?
Smith: Yes, absolutely. This girl and I were having coffee and we went to get back in my truck and the battery had died. So it turned into an hour of trying to figure out how to charge my truck battery. I told my co-writer Casey Beathard about it the next day, and he started singing the first line of the chorus ["Long as my truck cranks up and it don't break down..."].
Songfacts: "This Ain't That Song" is interesting because it could have easily turned into a kind of "good riddance" anthem, but it really balances the pain of a breakup with the hope that both parties can move on. Can you tell us about how that song came together?
Smith: That song started with a riff. The riff you hear at the top of the song really sets the tone for a hopeful moving on from a heartbreak situation. I've always loved guitar riffs that go along with the melody of the verse. And Casey Beathard had the idea for "This Ain't That Song," and I loved the way that it flipped from a heartbreak song to a moving on song.
Songfacts: How did the decision come about to shoot the video in your home state of Louisiana?
Smith: I've always wanted to shoot a video in the swamps of Louisiana. There's something about the vibe there that I felt like really connected with "This Ain't That Song" so we took a team of people down there to shoot it. I got to have my dog in the video so that was pretty cool.
Songfacts: Your It Started With A Song series on YouTube features you covering a number of artists who have helped shape your music. How do you approach covering a song and still making it your own?
Smith: That's a tricky thing sometimes. You want to honor the original version of the song but you also want to stay true to who you are. For me I think it's the way that I play guitar when it comes to playing covers. I try to add as much rhythmic percussion on the guitar as I can to those songs so I feel like that's how it makes it my own.
Songfacts: Inspired by your song "92," the Songfacts time machine is going to send you back to 1992, where you get to perform with any country musician you want. Who do you pick and what song are you the most pumped about performing with them?
Smith: Brooks & Dunn. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" is up there for me. Just the energy of that song makes me wanna move and groove, especially playing in those old-school honky-tonk dives. If I had to pick a second one, it would probably be "Straight Tequila Night" by John Anderson. I still believe that song would be a smash today and it is so well written. There's so many songs from the year of '92 that I love.
May 11, 2021
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photos: Heidi Smith
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