Payton Taylor returns to South Jersey for CD release, 2014 Hometown Tour
Payton Taylor 1
Washington Township native Payton Taylor will kick off her Hometown Tour on June 25 at Washington Lake Park. (Photo provided)
Washington Township native Payton TaylorPhoto provided
She may have left Washington Township more than a year ago to pursue her country music dreams in Nashville, but Payton Taylor refuses to forget her roots.
Named one of Nashville's top three emerging female artists in country music by NBC's Nashville affiliate WSMV-TV channel 4, Payton, is coming home on June 25 for her 2014 Hometown Tour.
"I can't wait to come back home," said the 17-year-old in a recent interview. "I'm so excited to see all my friends and family, and to go to Wawa. Nothing here compares to Wawa."
Payton has been singing since she could speak, and decided she wanted to pursue a career in country music after a show choir trip to Nashville in 2009.
"I'll go past the places I saw on that trip or when I go back to those places, it takes me back to 2009 and brings everything into perspective," she said. I'm so grateful and so blessed."
On June 25, Payton and her band — Joe Caliva on guitar/mandolin, Lisa Caliva on bass, Joe Galletti on banjo/dobro/guitar and Mitch Krieger on drums — will hold a concert at the James A. Yates Amphitheater at Washington Lake Park, in Sewell.
This will also be the official release date for her second CD, "Proud."
"I'm so excited to get this (CD) out there and I couldn't think of a better place to do it," Payton said.
The CD, produced by The Bank Perry's producer Lynn Arthur Nichols, has six songs, all co-written by Payton and Joe Caliva — who is also Payton's manager.
"I started writing songs when I was 14," she said. "One I even wrote at the amphitheater. It was the first day of spring — free Rita's day — so we got our Rita's then went to the park and wrote a song."
That song is called "Let's Go," and, Payton said, brings her back home no matter where she sings it.
"A lot of the songs I do take me back, and I take home with me wherever I go," she said.
The first single is called "Small Town Paradise" and is a tribute to the small town way of life Payton cherishes.
While she's playing live nearly three nights a week in Nashville, recording and promoting her CD and soaking in all the culture and music she can, Payton also just finished her junior year of home-school high school.
"I'll be a senior in September and I need to learn how to drive a car," she said with a chuckle. "All the money I had saved for a car, I spent on guitars."
Lightning Round with Payton Taylor
When traveling, iPod, book or conversation? Conversation, definitely.
Last thing you bought? Greek food for lunch.
Embarrassing song on your iPod. "Space Unicorns." It's a great, quality song.
Favorite all-time movie? "Walk the Line"
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be and why? Katniss Everdeen, because who wouldn't want to shoot arrows and be that cool?
So while she is chasing her dreams, even Payton can have a bad day.
"Having my family here has been the biggest blessing," she said. "If I have a bad day or a bad recording session, I can just go home and my mom's there and she makes a big pot of gravy and we just talk. That's something that irreplaceable."
Her advice for staying positive?
"Wake up everyday with the goal of bettering yourself as an artist," Payton said. "And, sometimes I have to be reminded, but enjoy it. You can get swept up in the song writing and everything."
Caliva said Payton and his daughter Lisa are sure to take time to have fun.
"We drive Joe crazy when we're on the road," Payton laughed.
Apparently, Payton and Lisa are fans of B-horror movies and have made it a tradition to watch them while traveling.
"The makers of 'Sharknado' made another one called 'Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus,'" she said. "We watch it every trip."
Caliva said it has been "life changing" accompanying Payton on her journey into country music.
"She's a fantastic artist," he said. "There's nothing I can't throw at her that she can't take in, absorb and learn from."
He is also looking forward to returning to where it all began.
"It feels like coming home," he said. "They are still our biggest fans."
The Hometown Tour kicks off on June 25 at 7 p.m. at James A. Yates Amphitheater at Washington Lake Park in Sewell.
The tour continues as follows:
June 28 - Greenwood Park Bells Lake
June 30 - Camp No Worries Medford
July 3, 4, 5 - Wildwood
July 24 - Delaware County Summer Festival in Media, Pennsylvania
July 25 - Gloucester County 4-H Fair in Mullica Hill
July 26 - Lou Booth Amphitheater in North Wildwood
For more information, visit www.paytontaylor.com and subscribe to Payton's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/PaytonTaylorTV to watch episodes of "Throwback Thursday Unplugged with Payton Taylor."
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