After years of writing songs for others, Nicolette Hayford is stepping into the spotlight as Pillbox Patti. Having penned chart-toppers like “One Night Standards” and “Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” for Ashley McBryde, as well as songs for Lainey Wilson, William Michael Morgan, and Chrissy Metz, Pillbox Patti has made her mark in the music industry.
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In a candid conversation, Patti shares the journey that led her to transition from a successful songwriter to a budding artist. The desire to express herself and reclaim her own voice was the catalyst that allowed her to break free from the confines of the Nashville songwriting scene that put her in a box.
While her songwriting approach has evolved with her artistic pursuit, she remains open to collaborating with other writers. However, the change in focus has allowed her to forge a path to “a truer, happier” version of herself as she embarks on a new chapter of her musical career.
American Songwriter: Tell us about the name Pillbox Patti. How did you land on that name and why?
Pillbox Patti: ‘Pillbox Patti’ is actually a song I wrote a few years ago. I have insomnia pretty bad and get up and write a lot in the middle of the night. Pillbox Patti was an idea that showed up at 4 am and as soon as I wrote it I knew I would use that name moving forward as an artist.
AS: You have a successful career as a songwriter, why did you want to transition to an artist and how are the two different and/or similar?
PP: I always wanted to be an artist but there was a lot of fear there and I knew I wanted to succeed at one thing first. I had some success as a writer but I started to feel like I was disappearing—giving little pieces of my life to other songs but never telling the whole story and never in my voice. I started to lose who I really am at my core. I kinda looked up and realized I was writing country songs using my truth that wasn’t at all really reflective of the “country” I came up in. My “country” wasn’t pretty picket fences and Sunday chicken. I had been waiting for the vessel for the kind of songs I wanted to write and then I realized I was the vessel. The making of the Florida record and then getting anyone to care is another story in itself (laughs).
AS: How do you think being an artist will impact your songwriting for other artists?
PP: My priority has obviously shifted and my heart and my soul need and deserve the attention and focus to be on me right now. There will always be ideas and songs I want to write with and for other artists/writers—I am just not in the 11-3 music row songwriting grind anymore. I’m a lot more thoughtful and specific with ideas for other writers and artists because I don’t have the time/open days I had as a writer. I actually think it’s helped in that sense. The songwriting grind of the row can be kind of soul-crushing. I am grateful to be able to create without telling a song when, where, and how long it will take to write it…the change of pace is exhausting, but I’ve never been a truer, happier me.
AS: How did you get into songwriting? What is your process?
PP: I’ve always been a writer, even as a kid. I knew I wanted to write songs after I heard Don Henley’s “Heart Of The Matter.” My parents had gotten divorced and my dad was driving me to school, I think I was like 4 or 5, and that song came on and I remember really understanding lyrics for the first time and that a lot of those lyrics were how my dad was feeling. My process depends on the situation. If I’m writing alone it’s a lot of getting up, walking around, talking to myself, and sitting back down at the piano—but no matter the situation I like to work on one line and one melody A LOT so there is a base of something that really moves me and grow the rest of the song from that.
AS: Can you give us the story behind “One Night Standards”?
PP: One Night Standards actually started because we were supposed to be “pretend writing” for a morning TV segment. We don’t know how to pretend write though (laughs) and we ended up really liking the verse/chorus ideas we came up with. It was originally a tag in progress, something about an airport hotel I think, but “One Night Standards” fell out in the room when we brought that idea to Shane McAnally and the rest is history as they say.
