Tuesday 8/4: Waylon Payne – Wayward

Texas songwriter Waylon Payne has released his third album, the follow-up to 2021’s Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me. Collaborators here include Aaron Raitiere, Brennen Leigh, Matraca Berg, and Miranda Lambert. Produced by Frank Liddell (Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack) and Eric Masse (Parker McCollum), the 13-track project showcases a classic troubadour who’s been to the edge and back and refuses to be easily defined. Which, fittingly, is precisely how the album got its name. “My friend used to call me ‘Wayward’ instead of Waylon,” Payne says. “One day I looked up the definition, which is ‘difficult to control or predict because of unusual or perverse behavior.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, it is me.’”