Allen Shamblin

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Allen Shamblin is a country music songwriter who was born in Tennessee, and was brought up in Huffman, Texas.

After graduating from Sam Houston State University he worked in Austin as a real estate appraiser. In 1987, he quit his job and moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a songwriter. He supported himself by parking cars and working in a warehouse. During live shows he tells stories about his parents sending him money so he could survive. In 1990, Randy Travis took a song Shamblin wrote, about his great-grandfather,^[2] to number one on the country charts. After "He Walked on Water", he followed it up with four more number one songs including: "We Were in Love," "In This Life" and "Walk on Faith."^[3] He often co-writes with other songwriters. He co-wrote with Steve Seskin for number one hits with "Life's a Dance" and "Don't Laugh at Me." Don't Laugh at Me was a hit for Mark Wills and was later recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary resulting in a school program designed to teach children tolerance and prevent bullying in the playground. His biggest song, "I Can't Make You Love Me," was co-written with Mike Reid and was a hit for Bonnie Raitt. His song "The House that Built Me", co-written with Tom Douglas, was recorded by Miranda Lambert and she won the Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy for the recording.^[4]

In 2009, Shamblin was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association Hall of Fame on March 1, 2009, at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas.^[5] In 2011 he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[6]

• "Don't Laugh at Me" (Mark Wills)
• "He Walked on Water" (Randy Travis)
• "Thinkin' Problem" (David Ball)
• "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Bonnie Raitt)
• "Why" (Rascal Flatts)
• "The House That Built Me" (Miranda Lambert)
• "Where the Blacktop Ends" (Keith Urban)
• "Life's a Dance" (John Michael Montgomery)
• "In This Life", "Man of My Word" (Collin Raye)
• "What I'm For" (Pat Green)
• "How They Remember You" (Rascal Flatts)
• "Threads Of Gold" (The Marcy Brothers)

• Official website