Country Next: Payton Sullivan

During a quick trip home to Nashville to recharge before hitting the road again, Payton Sullivan caught up with Country Now to talk about falling in love with music at an early age, the difficult life chapter that led her to Hawaii, and the dreams she’s now watching come true each day.

Born in Florida and raised in Nashville, Sullivan grew up surrounded by music. Her mom introduced her to Sugarland, her dad played classic country favorites, and her grandma encouraged her to sing in church. After a difficult breakup led her to Hawaii, she found new inspiration working on a ranch, surfing, and writing songs. The different experiences and musical influences she’s had up to this point have helped her find her own unique sound and earn her the title of “ultimate coastal cowgirl.”

Her time in Hawaii also led to an unexpected connection that would change the course of her career. Sullivan met Sugarland’s Kristian Bush at the 2024 Hawai‘i Songwriting Festival, and the two eventually began working together on new music. Bush has since become a mentor and producer for Sullivan, helping bring her songs to life in the studio as she works toward her forthcoming debut album.

Now, Sullivan is experiencing a full-circle moment as she joins the GRAMMY Award-winning duo’s Ride or Die Tour. At the same time, her own songs are beginning to reach more listeners, with fans showing up to sing along to her originals. With a new Sony Music Publishing deal, another song, “Talkin’ Bout My Girls,” out now, and an upcoming appearance at the 2027 Maui Songwriters Festival, Sullivan is embracing each new opportunity that comes her way.

Keep reading to learn more about Sullivan’s musical influences, her journey to Hawaii and back to Nashville, and her time on the road with Sugarland.

What are some of your earliest memories of loving music throughout your upbringing in Nashville?

Growing up, I would get in my mom’s car and she would blast Sugarland. I mean every album. And then we would go to karaoke nights on Fridays and we would all go, me and all my sisters, and Sugarland was what we sang. And I was like, “I’m going to nail ‘Something More.’ I’ve been practicing all week in mom’s car.” So it was just super fun stuff like that. My grandma would always have us sing in church. She would get Brother Charlie up there to call us out and she loved having us sing up there. Just growing up on gospel music and country music. And my dad was a huge country fan and we would always be listening to Jamey Johnson or Josh Turner and George Strait and just the classic ’90s country sound. And my mom was a little bit more… Her playlist was giving Kelly Clarkson and had this pop taste. That’s where I think I got this country pop just intuition, I guess, of wanting to mesh the two.

Later on, moved to Hawaii amid a difficult chapter. Talk about that decision to make such a big change and how that has impacted your life.

Both me and one of my best friends just went through an awful breakup. She was one of my go-to co-writers in Nashville, Tennessee. And she was like, “I just took a trip to Hawaii. I’m here for the winter to get away from the cold in Nashville. I just bought you a ticket. Come on out.” And I was like, “Yes, I will not say no to that”…I landed in Hawaii and she was like, “Oh, and by the way, we’re going to go and live on a ranch and be ranch hands because then we’ll be able to stay there for free.” I was like, “Okay, period”…So it turned out to be one of the best seasons of my life. We would work as ranch hands during the day and then go and surf in the afternoon, write songs at night. 

You’ve described yourself as being “the ultimate coastal cowgirl.” What do you love most about blending your country roots and island influences?

I think just because of who I am, it’s so important to me that I make music that’s really authentic to me. And one day I was paddling out and I was going to surf and some little girl, she paddled up to me and she was like, “Hey, you’re that coastal cowgirl.” I was like, “Yeah, that’s me.” And so I think the strength in country music is the power to tell a story in under three minutes with really organic and natural sounds, like acoustic guitars or real live drums, there’s that tendency that I will never be able to let go of. But then also growing up in Florida and living in Hawaii, there is this super fun and free sound as well that feels like almost once you just really sit on the beach or drive down the road and roll your windows down and scream to the top of your lungs no matter how bad you sound, there’s that mix too. So I’m like, I want the blend of both and I feel like we finally nailed it over the past couple years or few years even, and it’s just so much fun to see it translate on stage now. 

You’re serving as direct support for Sugarland, Ride or Die Tour. What does this opportunity mean to you?

It feels like such a full circle moment to me. I cried when I first got the call because I just imagined telling [me as a] little girl, “Hey, the band that you grew up listening to and loving and being so inspired by, you’re going to be opening up for them.” So it is just one of the most full circle moments to me that it feels like such a God thing because there’s no way I feel like I would’ve had this opportunity had I not been in Hawaii and ran into Kristian Bush out there at a songwriter’s festival on Big Island. It’s crazy to me. And so it’s wild that I had to leave Nashville to then meet the mentors that will then get me to where I am now. It’s just incredible. I’m so blessed. 

How has it been getting to know and work with Kristian Bush these past few years?

The really cool thing about meeting Kristian was he’s such an incredible mentor and he is always pouring into so many people and he was like, “I want to encourage you to start thinking what if it’s not wrong? Write the song and what does the song sound like as it is? No tweaks. What if it’s not wrong?” And we would just build off of that and I would keep writing because I write so many songs by myself just in my Jeep driving around. That’s when I hit flow state and I’m by myself and I’ll write, write, write, write, write, and then I will send these little demos of me in the car. And so as we did that, oh my gosh, we’ve written close, probably over, I don’t know, a hundred songs. And just through that, sorting through some of our favorites and convincing, I was like, “Alright, Kristian, what’s it going to take? What is it going to take to have you produce one of these in Nashville?” And he was like, “Well, let’s try it out. We’ll see how it goes with a couple songs. See if you really mesh with the band, see if you can get a feel for even how much it costs.” Because doing this from the jump as independent, it’s very, very difficult. But he was so helpful and so gracious with how it all came to life.

That first day we went into a studio, fell in love with the band. The band loved the music. We quickly recorded another four songs, and now we just wrapped a 12-song album that is unreleased and we’re waiting. I think we’re starting to look at the top of the year. Nothing’s confirmed, but the album is done. The album is so cute. We love it so very much. But yeah, just going from like, “Hey, what is it going to take to have you work with me in the studio to now finishing a whole record and then him calling and being like,” Hey, we’re going on tour, want to open? “And I’m like,” What a dream. What a freaking dream. 

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How has it been performing for the Sugarland audience and hangout with the duo backstage?

Well, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles are both just such grounded, sweet, kind people on and off stage and goofy. They’re both very goofy. So it’s just super fun to run into them and hang out with them. I can hear the Sugarland influences in my music, and I was like, “I wonder if this is going to translate on stage.” And sure enough, after my set, I run up to the merch booth because I want to meet as many people as I can. And there’s a line every single night that just of girls, guys, gays, cuties, all the people that are just wanting to come and say hey. I’m like, I’m obsessed with all you guys. I want to spend the rest of my night just saying hi to everybody. But then I put my fan hat on because Sugarland goes on and I’m so excited to just go and watch them every single night. So yeah, it has been a blast. 

How has it been hearing the fans singing your songs back to you, particularly your recent release, “F150”?

That is the first time this has ever happened to me. So I’m kicking my little feet…this past show, the whole front row already knew the song before I even played it. And I was like, “This is crazy to me.” So just starting to see some of this stuff happen and experience such a lifelong dream happen in real time. I’m just trying to be so present and I’m just so grateful even for this interview. This is such a dream come true, just like me talking about this story. So it’s all really, really exciting and I’m just so grateful to just see my music connect with people. 

You have another new song on the way, “Talkin’ Bbout My Girls.” What made you want to make this rendition of the classic song?

So it’s kind of like a girly pop version of “My Girl” by the Temptations, so we’re going to call it “Talkin’ Bout My Girls” and put a little “S” on the end for all the girls. But it was such a fun idea. I got in the room with some of my favorite co-writers and we were like, “It would be so cute to just see if we can almost take this really fun My Girls idea and turn it into a country bop.” And sure enough, I was like, “Let’s try it out on the road and see how it goes.” And the audience has been loving it so much, I’m just like, “You know what? Let’s put it out. Let’s just do it.” And I’ve had so much fun just seeing people react to that song too on social media, and I have super high hopes for it. 

Fans can keep up with Payton Sullivan on Instagram.