Jody Payne (born January 11, 1936) is an American country musician and singer. He is probably best known as a longtime guitarist in Willie Nelson's band.

He was born James L. Payne in Garrard County, Kentucky. He and his sister, Imogene Payne (born 1934), sang together when they were five and six years old. He sang and played the mandolin for Imogene’s first year graduation and that was the beginning of his music career.

His next performance was when he was about 10 or 11, they sang with his father on a radio show on WHIR in Danville.

In 1951, Payne went on the road with Charlie Monroe for a time. After he returned home, the family moved to Cincinnati. He was drafted into the Army in 1958 and served two years. He was discharged in 1960 and, in the spring of 1961, went to Detroit and started playing at the West Fort Tavern.

He first met Willie Nelson in about 1962 in Detroit. Nelson was playing bass with Ray Price. Payne started working with Nelson in November 1973. Before that, he played for Merle Haggard.

Willie Hugh Nelson (pronounced /wɪli nɛlsən /; born April 30, 1933) is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed at the end of the 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.

Waylon Payne (born April 5, 1972) is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor.

Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy Award-winning country singer Sammi Smith. His father became a longtime picker for Willie Nelson; his mother toured with Waylon Jennings. Payne is named for Jennings, who is his godfather. Due to the divorce of his parents and their heavy touring schedules, when he was about four months old Payne's mother placed him with her brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Yvonne, in Vidor. Although he spent summers out on the road with his mother, he lived with his uncle and aunt, who were strict Christians, until he was about age 18.

After high school, Payne enrolled in a seminary to become a minister. Payne had also acquired a taste for beer, marijuana, and popular music, which made his downfall complete in the eyes of his aunt and uncle. "I haven't seen them since," he has said. "I was branded a sinner and basically disowned."

Sammi Smith (August 5, 1943 - February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Born Jewel Faye Smith, she is best known for her 1971 country/pop crossover hit, "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. She became one of the few women in the outlaw country movement during the 1970s.

Sammi Smith was born in Orange County, California, in 1943 but spent her childhood in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. She dropped out of school at the age of eleven and began to sing professionally in nightclubs. She was only fifteen when she married, and eventually had four children. In 1967, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, soon after her divorce. When Johnny Cash got wind of her talent, she was soon signed with Columbia Records. She produced her first minor country hit in 1968 titled "So Long, Charlie Brown, Don't Look for Me Around". The song showed Smith's potential as a country powerhouse.

"Help Me Make It Through the Night" was Sammi Smith's career hit and the one that made her famous. She had been one of the rare women in the "outlaw country" movement sweeping country music in the 1970s. At this time, country was moving in two directions: "outlaw" and a more mainstream pop sound. However, "outlaw country" would be short-lived, with country taking on a distinctly pop cast by the end of the '70s. Smith would still remain with the "outlaw" sound throughout the 1970s.