Abby Payne grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York.  She received a Bachelor of Music degree from SUNY Purchase, where she majored in Jazz Studies. She has been a performer and singer/songwriter in New York City for several years, releasing four albums of original music and currently recording a fifth. Payne has also produced, created, and starred in several music videos and is a founding member of the Round Table, a female artist collective that seeks to create more community and opportunities for women.  Her musical "The Gunfighter Meets His Match," for which she wrote the books, music, and lyrics, was selected for the 2018 New York Musical Festival. Portions of the show have also been performed at HERE Arts, Joe's Pub, and Playwright's Horizons (with the Musical Theatre Factory).  In 2019, she was invited to join the Johnny Mercer Writer's Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, and in 2020 she attended the HBMG National Winter Playwrights Retreat in Grand Lake, CO.