Waylon Payne

A modern-day poetic outlaw, Waylon Payne mixes the sound of Red Dirt country with a soulful, experimental edge and personal lyrics full of tales of the difficult side of love and the trials of lives gone wrong. Payne earned positive notice for his 2003 debut album The Drifter but he wasn't able to immediately capitalize on its good reviews. Instead, he dabbled in acting, appearing in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, as he struggled with personal problems, eventually re-emerging in 2020 to widespread acclaim for his song cycle Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me. After devoting several years to work as a songwriter and sideman, Payne returned in 2026 with Wayward.