About the six-song EP, Georgia sophomore Peytan Porter Grown upout Friday (March 1), she's shedding light on a creative revival, the culmination of dismantling — then rebuilding — her sound to reveal her true self.
“These last six to 12 months I've just been getting my whole life back and putting myself in a really good direction,” she says. Advertising sign.
Porter's music career gained traction shortly after she graduated in 2020 from Nashville's Lipscomb University, where she studied public relations. A year later, she signed a publishing deal with Jody Williams Songs and Warner Chappell Nashville and saw her song 'Therapy' go viral on TikTok. She followed up with her debut pop-country EP in 2022 In my head. But while her debut showcased only one dimension of her musical abilities, Porter says Grown up it feels more like what it is. The album is rich with introspective lyrics and full of life, Laurel Canyon.
Porter name checks the modern sounds of folk-rocker Foy Vance and the blues-influenced Chris Stapleton, as well as more classic influences such as Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt's 1977 album. Just Dreams.
“There's just a kind of drifting, free nomadic energy that comes with this whole time frame,” says Porter of the 1960s and 1970s scene that spawned music by Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, the Mamas and the Papas and others. “I did a lot of research throughout that time and was inspired by how touring fueled the music itself. It looked like they took stuff out on the street and brought it into the studio. I wanted my music to sound live and I can't do that if I'm using tracks and synthetic sounds. This record feels like I'm stepping into mine.”
Porter, who is managed by Red Light Management and repped by CAA for bookings, will have the opportunity to showcase her new music this year at festivals including Tortuga Music festival and Gulf Coast Jam. Beginning in June, she will also open for Tim McGraw on his Standing Room Only tour.
Advertising sign spoke with Porter, the March Billboard Country Rookie of the Month, about the stories behind the songs on her new project and her journey to her new sound.
What was the catalyst for creating your new album?
When my first record came out, I felt kind of lost. A lot of exciting things had happened quickly and doors were opening. I was trying to keep up and I didn't have the ability to stop and create a direction for myself — I felt like I was just going with whatever came up. When the project came out, it felt like a finish line, and for the first time I had a space to stop and say, “Is this the direction I want to go in the next 20 to 50 years?” And I felt a resounding “No.” There were so many parts of me that I wasn't showing, and that didn't feel authentic. I'm not a good enough actress to have kept the gig that long.
How did you take the time to recalibrate, creatively?
I spent a lot of time alone in the forest. I went on a dating hiatus. I tried to be myself and figure out my own style, regardless of the people around me. I started making decisions and not asking for opinions. I chopped off my bangs, moved into a sketchy apartment and started decorating it with candles and weird mushroom decorations, fancy gold and jewelers. I figured out how to stop apologizing for what I like and that came into the music. Fortunately, my team supported me. And I had turned 25, so it was like the quarter crisis. Perfect storm.
The album's title track touches on the apartment and some of the tougher moments that come with figuring things out on your own. Are there any specific moments that inspired this song?
I wrote this after moving into a two bedroom apartment in Nashville. Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision I had made. I had an outdoor unit, at ground level. I remember it was New Year's Eve and I'm in my bed writing and I hear gunshots right outside my window. I crawl out of bed and sit on the floor and pray for protection. I grabbed my guitar and just started capturing what was going on around me.
That moment was a far cry from what everyone back home was doing—my sister was expecting a baby, my best friend was planning a wedding—and I was going through this artistic transition. I remember thinking, “This is what you wanted.” I wrote half the song and brought it to Steve Moakler and Mark Trussell to finish it together.
“God's Hotel” has a more bluesy vibe and a message of self-acceptance. What feel did you want for it?
On the road, we close with “God's Hotel” and then go into “Lean on Me,” and I wanted that kind of joint feel. When I go to a live show, I feel it. Finding a place where we all belong is important to me because it's a journey we all take to figure out who we are and then find people who will let us be that.
You reunited with Greg Bates, who you also collaborated with In my head. How did the process of working on this album compare to your first project?
I was much more hands-on sonically with this record. I came with playlists and a vision for sounds and different instruments. He trusted me to know what I wanted. It attracted players like [steel guitar player] Dan Dugmore, who played with Linda Ronstadt. He was intentional about the people he brought in and the sounds we used.
You recorded this album live, all the musicians in the studio together. How did that affect the feel of the EP?
We wanted to capture the feeling of a live concert. This meant that we shouldn't bring a draft with stubs from a demo and work from that, but create it on the fly. We all played it together and I got to sing with them in every take. There was this energy of it being a living shared experience, which I feel was captured. We went back and tweaked a few things after the fact, but I wanted to feel like we did something together.
This time in the studio, I had a lot more opinions. I went in and brainstormed the studio and set it up to be the kind of energy I wanted. It was the first time I felt like I had a voice in such a space. It can be daunting with a predominantly male presence in a room like this – to be a female artist and come in and have a vision – but they gave me space to follow that vision.
“Run the Radio” is about separation, but also about regaining freedom. What is the story behind this song?
I was on a balcony on vacation, writing songs, and I thought about this guy I was recently involved with who lived in a van. I thought the experience was at least worth putting into a song. I thought, “I didn't like any of his music” — and then I thought, “I didn't like any of my exes' music.” When I was dating an athlete, I listened to hip-hop and R&B. I dated a mountain guy who loved dark people. The guy with the truck liked EDM and house music. I realized I was trying to serve him.
Then I had the idea: “Now I run the radio”. I only listen to what I like. The song came out so beautifully. The more I appreciate my own instincts and style, the more I want to bring that feeling of freedom, power and pure joy to people.
You're signed to Jody Williams Songs and Warner Chappell Nashville in 2021. How have they weathered this season of self-discovery?
He is the best person and guru. I remember saying, “Jody, I think I'm going to cut my bangs.” It's like going through a breakup and wanting to cut all your hair off — this happened creatively. And he says, “Maybe it will start with a cut.” This is the most Jody answer — don't blow up your life, just start somewhere. And they have seen me on this crazy journey. I get signed to write songs and then three months later a song takes off as an artist. They have rolled with the punches and trusted me to know what I want for myself.
As an artist and songwriter, how do you balance the demands of both roles?
It's a huge difference. Some days I'm doing graphics at 1:00 am. and i have one [writing session] at 11:00 and a coffee meeting, and I do all the artistic things that people don't realize we have to do. Then I have to figure out what I can pull off as an artist and what songs I'm in love with as a writer. It's juggling. You want to honor the art and that's always difficult in a commercial environment. But I love that I have the option to do both. I think there's a time and place for both, and I think country music, especially, honors people who can straddle the line between commercial and craft.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/peytan-porter-grown-country-rookie-of-the-month-1235619213/