Born and bred in North Carolina, Peyton is the son of a traveling evangelist, who from early on encouraged him to develop his vocal talents within the local Pentecostal church. By the time he was old enough to go to college Peyton was already working closely with his father as his ‘Minister Of Music’. This required him to direct the choir, perform as a soloist and lead the worship in church every Sunday. After high school Peyton went on to Lee College, a small Christian academy in the mountains of Tennessee where girls weren’t allowed to wear shorts, dancing was forbidden and ‘everybody shared the same insular mentality’. Unimpressed by this small mindedness, he emerged with a ‘deeply suspicious view of organized religion’ but at the same time a healthy respect for the church’s power to nurture talent. So even now, he says ‘it’s not uncommon to find me singing the old time spirituals and hymns that gave my voice its starting place, and consequently its strength’.
After college he embarked on a journey of self-discovery that took him to Atlanta, California, Columbia, Washington DC, Manhattan and, finally, to London, where he’s been based for the last five years. The singer continued to write his own gospel tinged club tracks which eventually came to the attention of Hed Kandi’s Mark Doyle.