Paulette Carlson<\/p>\n
(1952- )<\/p>\n
Inducted 1996<\/p>\n
Paulette Carlson was born in Northfield, Minnesota and grew up in Winsted with a yearning to sing and entertain. She started singing in talent contests and in cafes around campus at Moorhead State College in 1974. Paulette also performed with the group Skunk Hollow from the Fargo area. After winning Minnesota’s Female Country Vocalist of the Year Award, Carlson moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She wrote music for the Oak Ridge Boys’ publishing company Silverline\/Goldline, singing demos and doing back-ups for various artists, including Gale Davies. From a recommendation, Paulette blended her voice with a male band, and Carlson created the group Highway 101, signing with major label Warner Bros. Records. With the first hit written by Carlson, “The Bed You Made for Me”, the group was on their way to the top of the country charts. Many hit songs followed this, some making it all the way up the country charts in the 1980s. In 1987 they received the Jukebox Award and the Group of the Year Award in 1988 with the Academy of Country Music. Highway 101 won the Top Group of the Year Award for two years in a row at the Country Music Awards in Nashville. With the desire “to be more and have more in her life”, Carlson left the band, got married, became a mother, and signed a solo contract with major label Capitol Records- an artist in pursuit of her own individual creativity. The hits from her Love Goes On<\/em> album brought again the demand for Paulette and her unique entertaining ability. She returned to her greatest form of expression: entertaining her fans from a stage. Carlson then independently produced Christmas is for You<\/em>, an endeavor that Paulette feels is one of her best works. Feeling that there was still some music that she needed to express in the Highway 101 fashion, Paulette joined the guys from the original band and released Paulette Carlson and Highway 101 Reunited<\/em> album. When asked what is most important to her regarding her career, her response is simply “Growth. Every experience you have in life can be a growing process, if you don’t ignore them. Some of them may be hard things to go through, but we all have a choice whether we want to grow or not”. Throughout her career, Paulette Carlson has had a distinct vision and calling to spend her life as a singer and entertainer. Her ability to compose, produce, and perform gives true life to her music and a true treat to her audiences.<\/p>\n