The Spotlight: Shy Carter 

By Ashley Barrientos 

Shy Carter is not afraid of taking up space.  

The multigenre artist prides himself on occupying multiple corners of the music industry, from hip-hop and R&B to pop and Country.  

“I always just found something in each genre that I felt like I connected with. That way I could just go wherever I needed to go, and fill the hole that needed to be filled, baby!” Carter says, beaming.  

The Memphis native has grown roots in nooks across America — from Atlanta and New York to Los Angeles and Chicago — eventually choosing to settle in Music City. 

“I was always going everywhere,” he explained, “trying to find my way into the music business.”  

Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, it’s been 11 years since he began working on Music Row.  

“When I first started off, I was doing a lot of R&B music. But it had changed so much since I was a child that I started gravitating to Country Music because it had that soul element that I really connected with.”  

Carter’s intersectional musical abilities shine in his work as a songwriter alongside Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez as well as his work as a producer for Nelly. The songwriter scored his biggest hit with pop artist Charlie Puth, co-writing Puth’s 5x-Platinum 2015 single “One Call Away.” 

With songwriting credits for artists like Kane Brown (“Heaven”), Sugarland (“Stuck Like Glue”), Keith Urban (“When God Whispered Your Name”) and more, Carter is now making waves in his own right. Named as a 2021 Artist to Watch by Amazon Music, he was also included in MusicRow’s 2021 Next Big Thing Artists List and tapped by Pandora and Sounds Like Nashville as a Country Artist to Watch. His colorful impact on the music industry is evident. 

Carter’s notable entrance into the Country Music scene as an artist came when he sang his hit single “Good Love” at the 2020 Country Radio Seminar. He describes his debut performance there as an “amazing experience.”  

“Everybody just welcomed me with open arms. They said the song made them feel happy and good and tingly inside,” Carter says. “It’s really a special song to me and I feel like people’s responses have been so wonderful.”  

Just weeks afterward, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the music industry. Adjusting was a challenge for many entertainers. “We couldn’t get out and promote the music the way we wanted to, as far as with the live shows,” Carter recalls.  

Taking the not-so-ideal circumstances as an opportunity to innovate, the ambitious artist and his team came up with the idea to visit radio stations and media partners across the nation on a seven-week, socially distanced radio tour that consisted of driveway performances and parking lot stages. It created a silver lining for many during a difficult year.  

“I just want people to feel happy, and feel love, and feel God, and feel the light and the positivity that this world can have, and not be burdened with all the problems and issues in life.”  

As the world continues to open back up and life resumes some sense of familiarity, Carter is eager to get back in the studio. Over the past year, he has cultivated his fan base through his traveling radio tours and social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Now, he is ready to connect with those fans out on the road. Exciting things, he boasts, lie ahead. 

To keep up with Carter, visit ShyCarterOfficial.com.  Read more about Carter’s involvement with CMA’s recent Songwriters Series performed exclusively for The Country Show with Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 HERE.