Bio:

David was playing guitar & singing in churches with his family in Kentucky at age 6. At age 8 he lost his father in an accident. At 10 he was winning regional talent shows & sitting in with country bands in clubs until his mother suddenly died when David was 11 years old. His oldest brother took him in, and at age 13, David's very first rock band was featured on David Letterman’s television show.

David was in every musical and drama production his high school presented, most notably portraying Conrad Birdie in "Bye-Bye Birdie", and Tony in "West Side Story", winning his school's Best Actor Thespian Award.

Professional Music

Graduating at 17, David immediately went on the road full-time as lead guitarist and vocalist with national Christian recording groups including: "Eternity", "The Cruse Family", "David Teems & The Calling", "Free Fare", and Grammy Award winners "Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart".

David was featured on the Grammy-nominated "Sheep In Wolves Clothing" album and Live Concert Video.

As lead guitarist of Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart, David played for tens of thousands in civic centers, theme parks, arenas, stadiums and all of the largest Christian Music Festivals around the country, including headlining at Creation Festival for an audience of 63,000 people.

International Touring

In 1991, David Payton recorded his first solo CD, "I Got Wise", which was released nationally on Refuge Records. His songs were also included on the highly acclaimed worldwide release, " Heavenly Blues". This was followed by continuous touring as a solo artist for the next 12 years.

There were even some live "Authorized Bootleg" CDs made of David’s concerts. These are the only available recorded examples of David’s famous "Amazing Grace Medley"!

(Imagine the lyrics of "Amazing Grace" to the tunes of Elvis, the Beatles, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Robert Palmer, Nirvana... you get the idea.)

• David Payton has performed in 48 States, 5 Canadian Provinces, Mexico, Jamaica, Italy, and Israel.
• He has shared the stage with Christian greats: Amy Grant, Michael W Smith, Newsboys, Bob Carlisle, Phil Keaggy, Petra, The Gaithers, Russ Taff, The Imperials, Mark Farner (of Grand Funk Railroad) and many more.
• He was also featured on numerous television shows and cable networks, including LightMusic, TBN and the 700 Club.

Party & Event Bands

As former lead guitarist and vocalist of U.S. Beat, David has performed for Microsoft, CNN, Nokia, Georgia Pacific, the Sugar Bowl and many others. He has also performed for over 2 dozen State Governors at Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s Governor’s Ball with special guest: American Idol’s Diana DeGarmo.

David Payton’s band "Cotton & the PayTones", a 3-4 piece Americana (rock-blues-country) band that combines an eclectic mix of cool cover songs with David's own original music to please an increasing following of enthusiastic fans.

Acting

Dramatically, David Payton has portrayed the role of Jesus before thousands in Atlanta’s Mount Paran Church Passion production for years. Currently, David is a member of PlayRight Productions, performing "Smoke on the Mountain", "Cotton Patch Gospel", and other hit productions in venues all over Georgia to sellout crowds, in all of which David acts, sings, dances, plays guitar, banjo, and mandolin.

Today

David Payton is currently a freelance singer/songwriter in the initial stages of recording his latest CD.  David is being enthusiastically received at high-end restaurants, clubs, parties, weddings and other events.  From relaxing dinner or wedding ceremony music to toe tapping party/beach music to dance-floor filling rock, country, Motown, or blues, all kinds of music are now affordable and easily accessible.

David currently utilizes modern technology, high quality sound system, and his notable talent to fill any room or even outdoor events with sound that often sounds like a full band.  He records his own arrangements  and plays all the instruments  on digital backing tracks, then he sings and plays the guitar parts live.  He even has electronic 'backup singers'  to add vocal harmonies as David sings to fill out the sound in astonishing ways.  

 

David lives in Woodstock, Georgia with his best friend and soulmate, his lovely wife, Charlotte Otwell Payton. Charlotte is a paralegal/executive assistant with one of the largest family law firms in Atlanta.

They are both avid animal lovers. They share their home with 4 rescued dogs and 2 rescued cats.