Touring with Sugarland is sweet for Payton Sullivan
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After a difficult divorce, Payton Sullivan decided to leave Nashville and escape to Hawaii. There she found a new sound and a new mentor and landed her first major tour.
Sullivan will open for Sugarland when it performs Nov. 5 at the Covelli Centre. The two-time Grammy winning duo featuring Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its "Enjoy the Ride" album.
Sullivan grew up near Nashville and competed on season 19 of "The Voice" in 2020 under her maiden name, Payton Lamar. She continued writing songs after heading to Hawaii, but she also worked on a ranch and embraced the island lifestyle, creating songs she described as "coastal country."
"It allowed me to feel a lot more free, a lot more myself," Sullivan said. "I was able to really ground myself in who I wanted to be as a person and as an artist and reset outside of that relationship. It gave me a whole new perspective on the kind of life that I want to live and the kind of music that I want to share.
"It ended up being really grounded in country music storytelling, but also super fun, super free and airy, which was basically the theme of my life at the time and still now today."
She met Bush at the Hawaii Songwriting Festival in 2024, and they soon began working together. He co-produced several of the singles she's released so far, including "Blondie," "Country to Me" and "Surf's Up."
When she got the call from Bush that she'd be opening for Sugarland, it made her cry to think that she'd be touring with the band whose songs she used to sing at karaoke when she was growing up.
"I was such a big fan of Sugarland already, so this is just such a full circle moment for me," Sullivan said. "This is the biggest tour. It’s the longest tour. I’m actually on a bus this time as well. That’s really fun, and I have such an incredible band. It’s my first really long full-band tour as well. So I’m so grateful to have such a big team behind me helping make this happen."
She released a new single, "F-150," to coincide with the start of the tour. No release date has been set, but Sullivan said she hopes her debut album will be available in early 2026.
Sullivan has been happy with the audience response to her songs, especially since most of the people in attendance are hearing them for the first time.
"Because I love the music that I’m making so much, we’re just naturally having such a good time, and I think that’s translating with the audience," she said. "Everybody’s dancing, and then I’ll even teach them some lyrics. And it’s so cool to see that, like you know, by the end of some of the songs, they’re already singing them."
Sullivan turned to another musical influence for inspiration in putting together her setlist. In addition to her originals, Sullivan performs Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," and includes a bit of "Islands in the Stream" in that arrangement.
"Dolly has always been a huge influence to me as an artist and as a human," she said. "She’s so bold with her faith. She’s so bold with her look. She’s been so bold with her music and her songwriting.
"When she passed, it just hit my heart, and I wanted to definitely make it a part of the set, because I know she had such a huge impact on my career and so many others. I thought it’d be a really special way to honor her and let her know that we will always always love her and always remember her."
As soon as her set is over, Sullivan heads to the merch table to meet concertgoers. Then she heads backstage, so she can watch Sugarland and pick up some more pointers.
"Kristian and Jennifer just interact and have so much fun on stage. That;s one of the best things that I feel like I can take into my show -- not being afraid to be goofy or come up with fun little dance moves for different songs or interact with the band. You can tell that when they’re having the best time, the audience is having the best time. So I just want to do the same thing."
WHAT: Sugarland and Payton Sullivan
WHEN: 7 p.m. Nov. 5
WHERE: Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown
HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $45 to $149.50 (plus fees) and are available at the arena's Southwoods Health box office and through Ticketmaster.