Newcomer Mickey Guyton is loving every minute of achieving her dream to be a successful country singer. Now that her debut single, “Better Than You Left Me,” has put her on the hot list of rising country stars, it’s even sweeter to reflect on where it all began — back in her home state of Texas when she was just 8.
“My church drove to Arlington, Texas, from Waco to see a Texas Rangers baseball game,” Guyton said in a recent interview. “We were all the way up in the nosebleed section, and the announcer says, ‘Please rise as 10-year-old LeAnn Rimes sings the national anthem.’”
This, of course, was before Rimes’ debut “Blue” hit the airwaves, but Guyton admits she was “already stuck on her.” When Rimes’ single did come out, Guyton reveals, she “was just done.” She couldn’t get enough of her incredible voice.
Despite her passion for music and drive to make her own dream come true, Guyton admits it was hard at first for her to share her professional desires with others. In fact, she tried her hardest to keep it all a secret.
“It wasn’t until I was older when I finally admitted it,” she says. “When you say something like that, it’s pretty crazy. What are we normally supposed to be? We’re supposed to be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, go to school. And for me to even say that was just kind of crazy.”
But a voice like Guyton’s was meant to be heard by the masses. And while others’ gifts and passions led them down different roads, her gift was meant to lead her to the stage.
“I started doing solos in the church choir or when the school had a talent show,” she said. “I’d bring my boom box, and I’d sing ‘I Will Always Love You.’ I was just mesmerized by big-voiced women. So from LeAnn, I started listening to Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline and Patty Loveless and Reba McEntire and Faith Hill and Martina McBride.”
Now establishing herself as one of the brightest new voices and personalities on the country music scene, her self-titled EP was released Tuesday (May 26). See Guyton do her thing on Brad Paisley’s Crushin’ It tour, which kicks off June 4 in Phoenix.
- Samantha Stephens, CMT.com
