Music comes full circle for father-son duo – Wayne and Peyton Owens share the stage as Owens Revival

Years before Wayne and Peyton Owens began sharing stages as the father-son duo Owens Revival, music had already created a lasting connection between them.

Wayne introduced his son to the guitar, taught him his first chords and invited him onstage as a child. Years later, Peyton returned the favor by introducing his father to new techniques, correcting songs and encouraging him to connect more with his audiences.

Their musical journey has now come full circle.

“Watching your son play next to you every night—that’s the thrill,” Wayne told The Versailles Republican. “I thought I wanted to be a mega-superstar recording artist, but the real thing is right there,” he said looking toward Peyton.

Wayne, an Osgood native also known as “Walkntall”, began playing drums in 1984 but soon decided being behind the drum set was not for him. “It was boring back there,” he recalled.

He switched to guitar and began performing while attending Jac-Cen-Del High School. Wayne brought his guitar to school, where he and fellow student Phil Richter would entertain classmates with lunchtime concerts.

One of Wayne’s earliest memorable performances came unexpectedly. A drama club production was canceled last minute after one of the actors became ill. A teacher turned to him and said, “Owens, you have your guitar with you? We need you.”

Wayne and Richter were asked to take the stage and perform in place of the planned production. When the curtain opened, Wayne said he briefly froze. Despite the initial stage fright, the experience reinforced his desire to continue making music.

Wayne eventually traveled to Nashville and began knocking on doors in hopes of pursuing a music career. “Everyone wanted a George Strait, and I wasn’t George,” Wayne said. He returned home to Osgood and reunited with his former band, The Spiders. The group’s name was inspired by Wayne’s favorite band, The Beatles.

Around 1998, Wayne formed Final 4 with Kevin Colson on drums, Bryan Huff on guitar and vocals, Phil King and Dennis Gaither on bass and Wayne on lead guitar and vocals. The band performed throughout southeastern Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Huff and King are both uncles to Peyton.

Wayne’s life took a different direction in September 2001. The day after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, he was in a recruiter’s office preparing to join the Army National Guard. Shortly before that time, he had learned he was going to be a father. “I traded in my guitar for an M16,” Wayne said. He served in the National Guard for 10 years, spending his final three years as a recruiter.

Peyton Owens was born March 26, 2002, and it did not take long for him to begin following in his father’s musical footsteps. Before he was 6 months old, he had an Elmo toy guitar.

At age five, Peyton received his first real instrument—a Harmony electric guitar. Wayne taught him three chords, and Peyton took it from there. “He was born with it,” Wayne remembered. Peyton repeatedly practiced a boogie pattern. Even when his fingers hurt, he continued returning to the guitar.

Neither of the two have had formal guitar lessons. Both learned to play by ear and rightfully admit they do not read music.

Peyton’s first public performance came during his grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary at the age of five. By about age seven, Peyton was joining his father during performances at American Legion posts. He played songs including Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Wayne said it sometimes took some persuading to convince the Legions to allow a child to perform. Peyton remembers joining his father for a few songs and then returning to the posts’ restaurant areas until Wayne finished the evening’s show.

Peyton joined the South Ripley band in seventh grade but left after learning he would not have the opportunity to play guitar. As he grew older, athletics began occupying more of his time. He became involved in basketball and baseball, although Wayne joked that his son could “get more hits out of a guitar than a baseball bat.”

During Peyton’s freshman year, a torn labrum in his shoulder slowed his participation in sports. Ironically, the repeated motion of playing guitar helped him strengthen the injured shoulder and brought music back to the forefront of his life.

Peyton said that whenever teachers asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, his answer was always the same: a musician. Career-assessment tests produced the same result, although he remembers being told, “Oh, you can’t do that.”

Wayne had a much different response when Peyton decided to pursue music professionally. “I was happy, happy, happy. I mean, I was happy when he was playing sports, too, but when he decided to take music up for a career, that floored me,” Wayne shared.

Peyton’s admiration for Johnny Cash began when he was about eight years old. On his 17th birthday—March 26, 2019—he and his mother, Robyn Greiwe, were in Tennessee and visited the Hideaway Farm in Bon Aqua, once owned by Cash. While there, Peyton met Cash’s nephew, Mark Cash, and had the opportunity to play guitar with him.
Years later, a surprise package arrived at Peyton’s Nashville home. Inside was a Martin Johnny Cash guitar. Greiwe had intended to have the gift shipped to her own address, but it was mistakenly delivered directly to Peyton. He was more than happy to accept the early surprise. Years later, Peyton reached out to Mark Cash and was able to return to the Hideaway Farm and had his Johnny Cash guitar signed by Mark.

In November 2019, Peyton organized a concert for his South Ripley High School senior project. He and his cousin, well-known southeastern Indiana musician Dustin Huff, performed before a packed crowd at the Tyson Activity Center, formerly known as Tyson Auditorium. He organized the concert as a pay-it-forward event and donated all proceeds to the South Ripley music department. After the event, Peyton’s parents were especially proud of what he had accomplished.

Before graduating from South Ripley in June 2020, Peyton frequently traveled to Nashville to visit Huff. At the time, Huff lived with Rob Williford, former guitarist and songwriter for country artist Luke Combs.

During one visit, Williford taught Peyton how to play Combs’ hit “One Number Away,” which Williford co-wrote with Combs. After listening to Peyton play the song, Williford left the room and returned with a special gift: his individually numbered MusicRow CountryBreakout No. 1 Chart coin. Dated May 3, 2018, the coin commemorated “One Number Away” reaching the top of the chart and represented Williford’s first No. 1 song.

“That sounds great. I want you to have this,” Williford told Peyton while handing him the coin. Peyton laughingly recalled that the meaningful gift came with one condition: He could never sell it on eBay.

Peyton formally began his professional training at Dark Horse Institute in Franklin, Tennessee. He first completed an audio engineering course taught by Grammy-winning producer and engineer Dave Hagen. His second course focused on the music business and was instructed by Jennifer Paige, whose 1998 pop single “Crush” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The institute includes both a school and a recording studio located in a secluded area. Taylor Swift recorded her self-titled debut album at the studio.
The experience also allowed Peyton to develop skills beyond performing. He began learning the technical and business sides of the industry, eventually discovering that producing music interested him even more than writing it.

When Peyton returned home throughout his coursework, the dynamic between father and son began to change. The student increasingly became the teacher.

Peyton would point out when Wayne was playing parts of songs incorrectly and introduced him to equipment and techniques, including using a capo to quickly change a song’s key. Peyton also encourages his father to talk more and engage with the crowd during performances. Wayne describes himself as shy but said he finds his comfort zone when he is behind a guitar.

In February 2022, Peyton moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee. There, he met Marine veteran and aspiring country artist Jordan Roberts, who had also moved to the Nashville area. Peyton offered to help Roberts with production and ultimately produced Roberts’ first song. It was also Peyton’s first opportunity to produce an entire project from scratch.

The partnership continued for three years. Among Peyton’s favorite memories was performing with Roberts during a Veterans Day show in 2024 at Skydeck on Broadway, a rooftop venue in Nashville. That same year, Peyton was introduced to Chloe Penny, then a 15-year-old musician who opened for Roberts.

As Peyton was planning to move back to Ripley County in August 2025, Penny’s father contacted him and asked whether he would be interested in producing his daughter’s music. Peyton agreed and has continued producing Penny’s music from his home studio in Ripley County. He also plays lead guitar during her live performances, including an upcoming performance on Mon., August 24 at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Cafe.

Peyton and Wayne began performing together soon after Peyton returned home in 2025. Peyton jokingly said the partnership began because he was bored. They chose the name Owens Revival, reflecting both their family name and their goal of reviving older songs for new audiences.

The duo has performed at the North Vernon Moose Lodge, BierHaus in Batesville and American Legion posts in Milan, Morris, Osgood and Versailles. They are also scheduled to return to Versailles American Legion Post 173 during the Versailles Pumpkin Show weekend. Their performance at Post 173’s benefit for the Walters family marked the first benefit event in which Owens Revival participated. Wayne and Peyton said the opportunity was particularly meaningful, and they were honored to be included.

Although Wayne once traveled to Nashville dreaming of becoming a recording star, he now considers the opportunity to perform beside his son a greater reward.

Peyton eventually hopes to return to Hendersonville and continue producing music near Nashville—and near the area that reminds him of Johnny Cash, his favorite artist since childhood.

For now, father and son continue taking local stages together: Wayne in the comfort zone he found behind a guitar decades ago and Peyton beside the man who placed the first chords beneath his fingers.