Waylon Payne Tributes His Late Mother, Country Singer Sammi Smith, in New Song, ‘7:28′ [Listen]

Singer-songwriter Waylon Payne has shared a new song, “7:28,” ahead of the release of his upcoming project, The Lost Act. It's a tribute to his mother, the late country singer Sammi Smith.

Smith's death in February of 2005 was one of the most difficult times of Payne's life, he shares. The song takes its title from the time Payne heard the news — but there's also another meaning, too.

"I received the phone call that my momma had died at 7:28AM,” Payne explains. “Curious, because I was also born at 7:28PM many years ago.”

Payne co-wrote "7:28" with Wade Bowen and Angaleena Presley. In his words, it's "about the devastating moments that sometimes happen in life,” the singer says.

“The call came in this morning like a thief in the night / It turned dark as hell there in the sun’s sweet light / This ain’t nothing like I have been told / The coffee in my cup’s not even cold," Payne begins, setting the scene, and a mournful tone for the song.

"7:28" is the first of three new songs that will be released as part of The Lost Act. The project is a "follow-up chapter," a press release explains, to Payne’s 2020 release Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me.

In addition to “7:28,” included on The Lost Act are "Do You Feel It Too" and "Sunday." The former is a ballad that tackles the feeling of trying to figure out if someone’s feelings are mutual when falling in love; the latter, meanwhile, is a song that Payne wrote for Lee Ann Womack’s 2017 album The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone.

The Lost Act is set for release on Oct. 15. It's available to pre-order now.