BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Songwriter Nicolette Hayford has helped others share their life stories. Now, she’s ready to share hers.
Hayford, a 2003 Bradford High School graduate, is set to release her debut album, “Florida,” under her stage name of Pillbox Patti.
“I really just felt like I hadn’t had the opportunity to tell all of my stories,” said Hayford, whose album is being released Oct. 7 by Monument Records, a branch of Sony Music. “When you’re writing for other people, you want to help artists tell their own things — their personal life and where they come from.
“I just felt like it was time for me to be able to share all my experiences in the way I wanted to sing them and have the record sound like I wanted it to sound. It felt like perfect timing.”
Hayford has been in Nashville for 12 years, but it was her experiences in her home state that served as the inspiration for the album’s songs. She describes the song “Suwannee” as being a snapshot of her time in Starke and of the good times she had.
However, Hayford’s life hasn’t consisted of good times only. She took a realistic look at her life and wrote about it within the framework of the songs on “Florida.” Hayford admitted that was a scary prospect, comparing it to reading your diary to others.
“I’m really proud of how honest and vulnerable it is,” she said. “I had some dark times. I went through some things that were really difficult and got myself into some situations that were really tough. I’ve done a lot of crazy things.”
The song “Valentine’s Day” is about the darker side of life, Hayford said. It’s about an abortion at the age of 15.
“Writing that song helped me heal a lot,” she said.
Hayford said she hopes the song can help others in similar circumstances not feel so alone. Such a song would’ve been a comfort to her.
“I just want to make music I wish I had heard when I was living it,” Hayford said.
Nashville was where she needed to be
Hayford spent a lot of time in Bradford County since the age of 5, when her mother moved there. Hayford moved there herself when she was a junior in high school.
She never attended elementary school in Bradford County, but she said, “I went to many a dance at Hampton Elementary School with my stepbrother and stepsister. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, so I grew up with a lot of the same people I ended up going to high school with years later.”
The talent for songwriting has always been present in her life, Hayford said. At first, she was shy about singing and performing in front of people.
Hayford said it took her a while to get on the path that would take her to Nashville, but she had no doubt that’s where she needed to be.
“I knew for a long time that I needed to be in Nashville, but I was scared,” she said.
Hayford was living in Jacksonville Beach when she decided to finally place her feet upon that path. It happened on July 4, which she describes as the most fun day in Jacksonville Beach.
‘I kind of made a pact with myself,” Hayford said. “I was like, ‘You’re going to leave on the Fourth of July because if you leave on the most fun day, then you’re serious.’
“I did. I packed up everything in my little Kia and drove out of there as the fireworks were going off.”
Putting in the time in a ‘10-year town’
Getting to Nashville is one thing. Making your mark is another. It doesn’t happen quickly.
“They call Nashville a ‘10-year town.’ That definitely rings true,” Hayford said.
Hayford said she found herself at times questioning whether she should be doing something else. It didn’t get easier even when she first started experiencing success.
“As you get more and more into it, you’re doing all these fun things,” Hayford said. “It looks like you’re really thriving, but you’re broke. It’s hard. You’re hearing ‘no’ all the time.
“Up until just a few years ago, I was still waiting tables full-time and writing for a publisher and doing all this stuff.”
The first song Hayford was involved in writing that got recorded was Robert Counts’ “Backseat Driver.”
Hayford said she experienced some surreal moments hearing her songs being played on the radio. When you’re used to things not working in your favor, it’s hard to believe when you finally do achieve what you set out to do.
“You hear, ‘They’re going to put this song on the record. It’s going to come out on the record.’ Even still, you’re kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Hayford said. “Then, when you hear it on the radio, you’re like, ‘It happened. It really happened.’
“If you’re driving, and you hear a song you wrote come on the radio, you pull over wherever you are. You’re just like, ‘Whoa.’ You just kind of sit and listen to it and let the cars fly past you.”
Hayford has written for such artists as Chrissy Metz, William Michael Morgan and Lainey Wilson as well as for friend Ashley McBryde. McBryde’s “One Night Standards,” which Hayford co-wrote, reached number 11 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 55th Country Music Association Awards and the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards.
“Ashley is one of my best friends,” Hayford said. “That was like the sweetest, coolest, most-insane thing ever. It still doesn’t feel real, but it was really, really cool.”
Stepping out from behind the scenes
When she felt it was time for her to write songs for herself to perform, Hayford said she wanted to create a separation from what she had done in the past. Therefore, instead of launching a singing career under her own name, she chose the stage name of Pillbox Patti, which is the name of a song she wrote a few years ago at 4 a.m. when she couldn’t sleep.
“I just kind of knew that when I was ready to make this project that I was going to do it under this name,” she said.
The project — her debut album “Florida” — got its start at a writers’ retreat she attended in February 2021. It was the first of two retreats she was part of.
“It was probably about a year of working on the record before it was finally done,” Hayford said.
Hayford was part of a recent Brantley Gilbert/Jelly Roll tour and has future shows with McBryde.
Other than performing, she’s working on generating publicity for “Florida.”
“I’m so excited,” Hayford said. “I’m so proud of this record. Of course, I’m nervous, too.”
Generating buzz about the album included being interviewed by the Telegraph-Times-Monitor. She couldn’t help but feel God’s presence surrounding that interview, which took place via phone on Sept. 8 — the nine-year anniversary of the death of stepbrother David Stone. Stone, a Starke resident who was a technical sergeant in the Florida Army National Guard, was hit by a vehicle and killed while assisting a civilian motorist who had been in an accident near Monticello. He was 30.
Hayford said she and Stone were very close.
“It’s just so fitting that I’d be talking to the hometown paper (on Sept. 8),” she said. “I just kind of feel like he’s on this journey with me.”
Though she’s written songs about the good and bad in her life growing up in a small town, Hayford said she hopes people in Starke view the album as a celebration. The city is a major part of who she is today.
“I think there is a very charming part of small towns, and I think there’s a very dark side of small towns,” Hayford said. “I think they both should be celebrated. You go through what you go through. Maybe your mom’s not frying chicken on Sunday. It’s not this kind of picture-perfect thing. Maybe it’s a struggle for you.
“Either way, it’s something to be celebrated — to be proud of where you come from.”
If you’d like to keep up with Hayford, visit pillboxpatti.com. The website contains links to Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Tik Tok. She has a presence on Twitter and YouTube as well.
You can also visit monument-records.com and find Pillbox Patti in the “Artists” menu.
