Heather Payne - Background

Background

Payne was born in Texas, but attended middle school and high school in Norman, Oklahoma, where she met Denise Masters and Terry Lang. She developed her vocal abilities at an early age; her first solo was in church when she was three years old. Her mother accompanied her as she sang the old hymn "Fill Me Jesus." In high school, she sang in the show choir, which required dancing as well as singing. She was also reunited with Terry and Denise during her first year at Ouachita. The three of them sang together in the Ouachitones, a group made up of fourteen women. Within the group, the girls performed as a trio. One night, they decided to spend their summer vacation driving around and singing in churches. After Denise's roommate Shelley Phillips joined, Say So was born. They travelled all summer, and sang together during the weekends while in school. They recorded an independent album, and really did not have any plans of pursuing a record deal, but after one member's grandparents signed them up to go to the Christian Artists Seminar in Estes Park, CO, they ended up winning the Overall Grand Prize in the Group competition and caught the ear of several record companies. They ended up signing with Word Records and moved to Nashville, TN to begin work on their debut album.