Working at ESSENCE, you never know who you might see at the office, but this week, country songstress Mickey Guyton stopped by amidst a busy schedule preparing for her new album, House On Fire, and just a day away from starting her tour. Within seconds of seeing the artist, her radiant energy filled the room as she excitedly shared photos of her son at school: “Look at him, he’s just too cute.”
Before becoming “Mickey Guyton,” the well-known superstar of today, she was just Candace, growing up in Crawford, Texas, a small and very much country town in the Lone Star State, where her friends were her siblings. Like many Black artists, going to church was routine for her family and played a significant role in her life, with her parents being a deacon and deaconess. Those moments introduced her to her passion and what would soon be her career. “We spent a lot of time in the church, and that was the music that we’d sing,” Guyton tells ESSENCE. However, it wasn’t until Whitney Houston’s legendary performance at Super Bowl XXV with her rendition of the National Anthem, or witnessing a 10-year-old LeAnn Rimes sing at a Texas Rangers game, that defined the moment Guyton decided to try singing herself.
“That was my introduction to music. There was a young person that sounded like a grown woman singing. I didn’t care what genre it was. I just wanted to be her. That was really what got me into wanting to sing,” says Guyton.
Growing up in the South, country music is played and prioritized just as much as hip-hop music in predominantly Black communities. With her grandmother being a Dolly Parton fan, Guyton gravitated toward the country sound. Songs like “I Will Always Love You” and “Coat of Many Colors” are what she recalls as most meaningful and favorite. She mentions renowned journalist Jessica Bendinger, who encouraged her to…
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