Payton Rae
May 9, 2011
Up-and-comer and Internet sensation Payton Rae will release her debut 5-song EP, "Dare to Live," on May 17. She recently debuted her new video for the song "Dare To Live" online. Filmed in both in Texas and Nashville, fans flew in from all over the country to be part of the performance scene, shot at Music City's famous Bluebird Café, and quickly after its release online, tens of thousands of fans then viewed the video debut within the first 24 hours.
With close to 47,000 followers on Twitter, 15,000 on Facebook and 2.3 million YouTube views at her dedicated channel, Rae already has a bigger presence online than some artists with chart-topping songs. The singer ignites a passion in her fans known as "DTL Teams," street teams that use social media to spread the word. "DTL Teams" started only five months ago with two fans in Texas and Louisiana and now have team leaders in 35 states and 21 countries like Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Venezuela, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
It all started with Payton's first public performance, singing the National Anthem for the Houston Comets women's basketball game when she was 4-years-old. Inspired Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, Rae started posting videos, including YouTube tributes to some of her favorite artists like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and The Band Perry. The videos went viral and have helped launch Payton's career with no prior label help.
By Jackie Chapman
