Payton Smith. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

Whether utilizing his burnished, mature tenor voice or nimbly drawing out a nuanced melody or percussion from his trusted guitar, 19-year-old Payton Smith is already adept at drawing the listener into a song, and into a feeling.

Smith played every guitar part on each track of his recently released, self-titled EP from Big Machine Records.

During a recent visit to the MusicRow offices, Smith picked out rhythms and poured out melodies, immersing himself in performing original songs such as “Creek Don’t Rise,” and the retro sound of “’92.”

“My momma played a lot of ‘90s country music and I love the feel of ‘90s country and I wanted to capture that Brooks & Dunn vibe and rhythm,” Smith said of the song.

Payton Smith with MusicRow Magazine’s Sherod Robertson. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

He vividly recalls being all of five years old, and being inspired when he saw Keith Urban performing on the CMA Awards.

“That’s a young age to know what you want to do but I remember loving music. I remember watching him get onstage and he did this thing where he tuned his guitar and he made it look so cool,” he said.

“I had this toy guitar at the time and I must have spent the next two weeks just torturing my guitar trying to do what he did. It affected me just seeing how much energy he puts into a song. When I started writing I wanted to write with that live energy approach to a song, so that’s how we approached this song,” before segueing into another of his own self-crafted hits, “Like I Knew You Would,” which is set to be his next release.

Much like Urban, Smith finds inspiration from a range of sounds—with Smith’s songs evoking a blend of country and John Mayer-esque pop and R&B guitar work. Smith first visited Nashville when he was 14, and made the move to Nashville with his family two years ago.

“The first time I came to Nashville was on family vacation, I wanted to play at the Bluebird Café because I had been writing songs, but it was Labor Day weekend so the open mic night happened to be closed that night. I went down to the lobby of the hotel we were staying at, and there were about 20 or 30 people and one of them happened to be a session player in town. That session player introduced me to Buddy Cannon. He’s always been about the song and he really taught me that it all comes back to the song.”

Another Nashville performance led to his current deal with Big Machine Label Group. Big Machine Label Group founder/CEO Scott Borchetta happened upon Smith shredding during a performance at CMA Music Festival, which led to a meeting and later an offer to join the Big Machine roster.

“I remember getting that call while I was driving down Old Franklin Road and I just pulled the car over and started crying,” Smith recalls.

He is in the studio with fellow Louisiana native James Stroud working on music for his upcoming project. He will also soon join Chris Young’s headlining tour.

“Chris has been such a great supporter of my music. We were just looking at buses this morning, so it’s surreal to be out on a bus this year. It’s my first time going out and playing in front of big crowds and amphitheaters, but I’m so excited.”

Payton Smith with MusicRow staffers. Photo: Erin Burr

British vocalist and songwriter RUMER’s fifth album, Nashville Tears, will be released on April 24 on Cooking Vinyl. The new project features songs written by Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer, Hugh Prestwood, including gems like “The Song Remembers When” and several tunes never recorded until now.

RUMER has long been enamored with the storytelling of country music and while living in the South away from the international spotlight, discovered Prestwood’s work. “I can’t wait for more music lovers to discover Hugh Prestwood’s magnificent catalogue. I know without a doubt they’ll be as grateful as I am to have found him,” says Rumer.

Those pre-ordering the project will receive the ethereal “Bristlecone Pine” (ft. Lost Hollow) as an instant grat track. Pre-ordering from the official store will also provide fans with early access to concert tickets on Feb. 5, before the public ticket on-sale on Feb. 7 for RUMER’s upcoming tour, which kicks off May 14 in Birmingham, England.

Nashville Tears Tracklist:
The Fate of Fireflies
June, It’s Gonna Happen
Oklahoma Stray
Bristlecone Pine (ft. Lost Hollow)
Ghost In This House
Deep Summer In The Deep South
Heart Full Of Rain
Hard Times For Lovers
Starcrossed Hanger Of The Moon
The Song Remembers When
That’s That
Here You Are
Learning How To Love
The Snow
White Rows of Arlington
Half The Moon.

Florida Georgia Line has parted ways with managers Seth England and Kevin “Chief” Zaruk of Big Loud, after nine years.

FGL first signed with Big Loud Publishing in 2011 and in 2012, released the breakthrough single “Cruise,” which is now 11x Platinum and the best-selling digital country single of all time.

“It has been an incredible journey with our Big Loud family and we are so thankful for the last nine years. Together we’ve grown more than we could have ever imagined due to what we all bring to the table. As we continue to evolve, so do our needs and our team. Although bittersweet, we and Big Loud are excited to support and encourage each other as we enter the next chapter of our careers, and welcome a new family into our world with open arms. We will continue to dream big and push ourselves to be the best we can be in all facets of life. We are just getting started,” said FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley.

“We can’t say enough how much love we have for both BK and T-Hubb. We have achieved more in nine years than any of us could have ever dreamed. We’re really proud of almost a decade full of record-breaking success with the two young kids we met in 2011. Today we find a safe place to unwind our business relationship in order to preserve the lifelong friendships and memories we have made together. Good luck to BK and T-Hubb in their future endeavors. Big Loud Proud,” said Seth England, Craig Wiseman, Joey Moi and Chief Zaruk, partners at Big Loud.