Peyton Gilliland

Lately Gilliland has been coming into her own like never before. She grew up singing in church but was always an avowed fan of rock music — Cage the Elephant, Arctic Monkeys, etc. Lucky for her, a few years back, at age 15, she linked up with former Cage member Lincoln Parish who has since gone on to become her mentor, producer and biggest champion. When she first heard she could work with one of her favorite musicians, “I freaked out,” Gilliland recalls with a laugh. “I was like “Hold up! Cage the Elephant is my favorite band and always has been.”” Parish, for his part, quickly rec- ognized that the young singer, while prodigiously talented, may not have been tapping into her true rocker potential. “And so he would push me to my limits because he knew I could do it because he knew he did it at such a young age too,” Gilliland explains. “He knew I was capable.”
The result is a singer shedding her previous insecurities and stepping out in a major way. It’s extended to her live performance as well: where Gilliland admits to once hav- ing severe anxiety around performing, over the past year, ever since a standout gig at the Basement in Nashville, she’s never felt freer or more self-assured. “I guess I shed my shell at that show,” she says of the gig, her first with a full band. “When I came off- stage, I was like, “Wow, I now understand why people like to do this so much!””