Rayland Baxter is finding peace in a secluded cabin hidden by trees.

words & images by David Katzinger

After 18 years in the music industry, having cut multiple successful records and toured all over the world, he’s finally ready to close a major chapter of his life that he now calls, “The Beginning.” For Rayland, there’s more work to be done, more music to be made, and more self-discovery to be had.

He wears the clothes of his late father, guitar legend Bucky Baxter who’s pedal steel playing influenced the sound of Bob Dylan’s music for 7 years while performing with Dylan on his “Never Ending Tour.” Rayland inherited his father’s wardrobe and with that, the warmth of his memory is constantly felt as he lives and writes the new music for his next album in a cabin off of a dead end road surrounded by trees, just him and his dog, Hippy.

Rayland Baxter: I’ve had a really interesting couple of years, but today is good. It’s peaceful out here. Out here when it rains it’s like heaven. It’s quiet. The rain hits the leaves. The wind blows. I leave my windows open. I go in and out of sleep as it’s raining. If I’m lucky, I’ll wake up to rain in the morning.

I’m really grateful to be out in this house. It’s not mine, but it’s home right now and has been for the past 3 years.

David Katzinger: What about the house is special to you?

RB: I’m far enough away from the highway. I have neighbors so I’m not out here with nothin’. There’re lots of trees covering the cabin. It’s dim inside. There's a lot of windows but the trees cover them so it stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I’ve got a woodburning fireplace. It’s quiet man. It’s so peaceful and I’ve had a lot of pretty unpeaceful days over the last couple years and so it’s been really nice to process my life and everything that happens in it out here.

DK: Do you feel like it’s been a good place for you to write and that it’s been inspiring for this next project?

RB: It has. I’m still in the middle of writing the record, but I’ve written every song that will be on this record in this house up to this point. That probably won’t be the case for the rest of the record, because I’m going to spend the month of June writing with other people. I sit on this chair that I’m sitting on now next to my bed with a notebook and a guitar, just me and Hippy.

DK: What has Hippy meant to you in these last couple years?

RB: Hippy has been an emotional support dog. I’m not alone in my cabin. I’m with him and he’s chill. He matches my energy. When I want to sit around he’ll sit around with me, when I want to jump around, he’ll jump around with me. And he’s a good protector. I got him when he was a puppy and he’s 3 and half years old now. We spend a lot of time at the dog park and he’s my boy. Man and dog. Classic.

A man holding a brown puppy on his shoulder outdoors with blurred trees in the background.

DK: When we were picking out your outfit for the photos we tried to pick out pieces that were meaningful to you and you picked up a shirt that you ended up wearing.

RB: That’s one of many shirts that belonged to my dad. He passed in May of 2020 and so I acquired a lot of his stuff. We were the same size. It’s nice to wear his clothing. It just worked out pretty good. I have a bunch of his clothes and he had great style. I inherited all of that so I wear his clothes regularly.

DK: What does it feel like to wear his clothes?

RB: He’s always around. It’s just a part of my life now. I’m a part of him and he’s a part of me. It makes me feel good. I don’t know how else to put it.

Around 5th grade is when he started schooling me on what was cool. Like Ray Price to Jimmi Hendrix, The Osborne Brothers, Doc Watson to Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, The Band, and Los Lobos. We took a long road trip during the Summer after 6th grade and drove from Nashville to Hollywood, California. He had an old Eddie Bauer Bronco and he got a nice speaker system and we went to Walmart in Arkansas and he bought a lot of the CD’s by the artists I just listed off and we just listened to music the entire time.

As I got older I started playing music and he was always really good at pointing out when bands were clicking. On a recording he’d point out how everyone had their own role.

He was big on listening and knowing when to play and when not to play. I probably overplay a lot, but the older I get the more his lessons sink in.

He would give me advice early on in my career. When I first started playing in Nashville I would sit down all the time and he would encourage me to stand up and he’d encourage me to open my eyes when I’d sing and he encouraged me to write.

You know when you’re at a bowling alley and you’ve got the gutter, but you’ve got those rails that close the gutter off for the kids so their balls doN’T go into the gutter? He was like that for me.

It was tough love too, but always encouraging. Those first few years I was in Nashville he’d play every show with me. Then after the show we’d have a cigarette and do some constructive criticisms and I learned a lot. When he played with the various artists that he played with he paid attention to what they did so I got to learn from his experiences and theirs as well.

DK: How long would you say you’ve been doing music?

RB: I moved back to Nashville in the Summer of 2008. I had started writing a few months before I moved back. I put my first album out in 2012 and that’s about how I’ve been doing it you know. I don’t write all the time. I do it in spurts and go live a little or live a lot and make some audio notes on my phone as I’m going about life. About 18 years I’d say in music.

DK: The music that you’re writing now. Where does it come from and what is it inspired by?

RB: I’m always inspired by all of the same stuff that the other records were inspired by. My memories and my feelings and my perspectives and imagination. God. Spirituality and friendships. The journey, man and the curiosities. Like when you look at your parents face for too long and some profound understanding comes from it. Or when you stare into the stars at night and almost break down because you don’t know what the heck is out there.

I got sober 2 years ago after a pretty long tear in my 30’s of drinking and doing drugs and I got into a relationship for a while that ended up changing the direction of my life… for the better. Being clear headed or at least on the path to being clear headed a lot of things became more difficult, but a lot of things became easier too. Writing was harder. It was a challenge to write these songs for this album. I didn’t have anything to lean on like I’d leaned on in the past like red wine or amphetamines. So it was just me and my senses.

DK: Was it scary to write now in a place of being sober?

RB: Yeah, I was nervous at first. I just had to do it every day. I set out and was like I’m going to write every night, starting last June. I’m going to write every night until I have a bunch of songs. And I did that. I had to get into a rhythm. The whole word game becomes easier the more I do it.

I hadn’t written in a long time and it was frustrating at times. I’m doing a second push on this record because I’m at a better place today than I was last year. I forced a lot of the songs. I have time to work on this album and I’m going to use that time.

It’s interesting how when we’re going for something and we let our hands off the rails and just kind of relax and take it easy and the songs come. I think I was able to relax and take it easy about half of the time last year and I feel like the other half I forced myself.

When I went into the studio in December of last year I had 40 to 50 songs, but we recorded 15 and I’ll end up keeping 7 of them. The 7 best songs out of 50. It’s about quality and not quantity in that approach. I had to write a bunch to get 7 good ones. And I’ll do that again in June. I’ll go write 15 more songs with 10 other people which I’ve never done.

I’ve never dedicated time to co-writing and I’m open to it now. I’ve been so closed off to it in the past, but I want to learn from other people and be inspired by other people and I think it’s going to be a really great thing.

DK: You sound like you’re in a really good place.

RB: I’m in a good place today. When I got sober I went into AA on day one and it’s been amazing. What I’ve learned from just going to meetings and listening to other people who’ve been sober for a long time who went through a lot crazier stuff than I’ve been through in life and listening to how they manage their lives on a day to day basis. I’ve learned so much and I’m a healthier person today. I’m taking care of myself for the first time in my adult life and it feels good and it feels right.

A person standing in front of a rocky, overhanging cliff, wearing beige pants, black boots, a light-colored shirt, and a red cap, with hands on top of head in a natural outdoor setting.

This is the way for me to live today. I just went through so much in the last couple years with a breakup and the fear that came from it all and the drama that was involved with it and looking at myself in the mirror and realizing what I brought to the relationship and what I didn’t bring to the table. I’ve had to endure a lot of fear-filled days.

That relationship was my greatest teacher in my adult life. And I’m really grateful that I got into it and that I got out of it. I learned a lot about myself and my tendencies. It takes a lot of daily work. A lot of reading and a lot of writing and praying. I’m in the best shape that I’ve ever been in my life mentally, spiritually and physically today. I’ve got to be grateful for that and forgive myself for how I carried myself in the past and make amends where I can when it’s safe and not get stuck in the past.

DK: Are there any standout moments in the last 18 years that you’ve been in music that really make you feel like you’re doing what you should be doing?

RB: I’ve had a lot of fun touring and I still love touring. I’ve yet to achieve my goals with music other than I’ve created a handful of records that I’m proud of, but I feel like that was one big chapter and this is the next big chapter. When someone comes up to me and says something like, for lack of a better phrase, “your music has helped me.” When something like that happens or “I took my kids to your concert 10 years ago and now they’re writing their own songs.” Stuff like that is really important. I would like to provide a platform for people to dream on and for me to dream on. It’s a really beautiful thing when I can be inspired and then I can hand off that inspiration and other people can be inspired. That would be the highlight. Using my skill set to help other people.

DK: That big first chapter that you’re closing, if you were to title it, what would you call that chapter of your life in music?

RB: The Beginning. That’s the beginning.

DK: So then now you’re in the middle?

RB: I don’t know what this chapter is called. I’ll find out.

DK: The music that you’ve showed me so far just off of the demos from your phone it sounds like it’s coming from a really beautiful place that’s full of depth.

RB: We’ll see what the record turns into. I’ve never been able to do a second push with a record. I’ve always just gone into the studio and made the record and put it out with what we were working with, but this time I’m going to ask for help from my friends and see what we come up with and I think the second push is going to be the difference maker. Making the best bit of art and sound that I can get together with a little help from my friends.

I’d imagine this next year is going to be really busy. I’m ready to work, man.

DK: If you were to describe to me a perfect day, what would that be?

RB: A perfect day would be waking up with a smile on my face, making some coffee and eating some breakfast. Watch some lacrosse on TV. Go to the gym for a while, go to the dog park for a while. Come home, make some chicken and rice. Further investigate the invisible energies around me. Lay around with my dog and flirt with life a little bit and then fall asleep.

DK: Any advice to musicians coming out to Nashville or trying to pursue music in general?

RB: When I started doing my thing it was such a different environment than it is today. I played open mic nights and new faces nights and battle of the bands. One thing that remains consistent through it all is looking at life through the lens that everything can be a song and remaining curious and talking to people. From the homeless man or woman on the street to a business tycoon. Everyone has got an interesting story or one line here or there that could inspire a song or spark the imagination to write something completely made up. Also just being aware of when the inspiration magic is around.

DK: How do you recognize that?

RB: I just feel it. Usually it happens when I’m in my car or right when I go to pick up an instrument. The first 15 seconds of holding a guitar and then blurting something out. That’s where a lot of songs come from. There’s that immediate moment where you walk by a piano and sit down and then a melody comes. Those precious moments right there.