A native of Houma, Louisiana, country singer and guitarist Payton Smith landed his first break busking. During a 2014 family vacation, the teenager decided to start performing in the lobby of the Hilton where they were staying. That led to a meeting with country producer Buddy Cannon and the start of his professional career. An avid fan of both rock and country who counts Keith Urban and John Mayer among his musical role models, Smith developed his six-string skills as well as his writing chops.
A spot in 2018’s CMA Fest brought him to the attention of Scott Borchetta, who signed him to Big Machine. The 18-year-old’s profile rose opening for Dwight Yoakam and Brad Paisley. A self-titled EP was released in 2019 consisting of four songs. Smith not only co-wrote each of them, he performed the vast majority of the guitar parts in each of them. The song “Like I Knew You Would”, a poppy, rhythmic country tune, picked up airplay. A pair of singles, “Ready Set Sumer” and “Creek Don’t Rise” were issued in 2020. He was supposed to open for Chris Young on a 2020 tour, but those plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.