Mickey Guyton

GRAMMY Museum Mississippi welcomes Mickey Guyton to the Sanders Soundstage for a conversation on her creative process and rising success.

Born in Arlington, Texas, Mickey Guyton moved around the Lone Star state as her father’s engineering job took them to Waco, Tyler, Dallas and Fort Worth. She began singing gospel in church when she was only five and grew up listening to a variety of artists including Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston and gospel innovators BeBe and CeCe Winans. “Those were huge influences,” she says, recalling a particularly pivotal moment. “I was at a Texas Rangers baseball game and LeAnn Rimes was singing the National Anthem. This was right when she came out with ‘Blue’. I was completely mesmerized.”

Mickey moved to Los Angeles after high school to attend Santa Monica College. She worked long hours at two jobs, but held on to her dream of becoming a Country singer. She knew instantly what she wanted to do with her life, and although she possesses the kind of strong, evocative voice that could succeed in any genre, Country music is her passion. A chance encounter turned everything around when a friend introduced Mickey to producer Julian Raymond (Glen Campbell, the Wallflowers). He connected her to Gary Borman and his partner Steve Moir, the company that built the careers of Faith Hill, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum from day one.  Mickey moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue her dream and has embedded herself in the town’s songwriter community the last three years. 

In 2011, Mickey signed to Capitol Records Nashville, and made her first appearance on stage at the White House during an all-star concert that included James Taylor, Dierks Bentley, Kris Kristofferson, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker and Lyle Lovett. The show was captured by PBS and broadcast as part of their "In Performance at the White House" series.

Mickey released her self-titled debut EP in 2015. She co-wrote two of the four tracks featured on the EP including “Better Than You Left Me,” and collaborated with award-winning producers Nathan Chapman, Dann Huff, and Luke Laird.  “Better Than You Left Me,” Mickey’s powerful debut single which she co-wrote with Jennifer Hanson, Jenn Schott and Nathan Chapman, made Country Aircheck history as the single highest one-week add total for a debut first single.

Mickey made her national TV debut on ABC’s Good Morning America with a performance of the single, “Better Than You Left Me.”  Also in 2015 Mickey toured with Brad Paisley on his “Crushin’ It World Tour and released the holiday single “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s Frozen.  With performances on ABC’s CMA Country Christmas and Disney Channel’s Fa-la-la-lidays Celebrates A Radio Family Holiday, the single was a holiday favorite. 

She was nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award in 2016 for New Female Vocalist of the Year and has appeared on many Who To Watch for lists including NPR, Billboard, Rolling Stone Country, Spotify, Yahoo! Music, Huffington Post, Mashable, Taste of Country and Nashville Lifestyles. Recently, CBS This Morning’s Gayle King featured Mickey in an in-depth profile piece. She has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Access Hollywood and Rolling Stone named her Best First Impression on their 2015 50 Best Things at SXSW list.

Mickey released her new single “Heartbreak Song,” in June of 2016 which she co-wrote with Mark Trussell and April Geesbreght and she is currently putting the finishing touches on her debut album.