Who Is Parker Welling? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

As much as we love championing artists in country music, we’ve always believed that songwriters are the backbone of the genre. Parker Welling, a Grammy-nominated songwriter is one of those prolific songwriters. A Nashville native, Welling grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, with country music always close by. In fact, her parents even met at the iconic Bluebird Cafe.

“Neither one of them was playing. They both went to see a mutual friend, and that’s how they met,” shared Welling. “Like any good country song, they ended in divorce, and then I went on to be a country songwriter. That’s kind of my origin story.”

Welling caught the music bug early. She remembers watching Shania Twain’s Behind the Music on VHS and watching LeAnn Rimes have her big moment in country music. Both artists made her realize that she wanted to pursue music too. She began making up songs when she was just nine or ten years old, and by the time she learned guitar around fourteen or fifteen, she was writing songs every day. “I think a lot of songwriters feel this way. We’re wired a little bit different,” shared Welling, adding, “I always felt like I maybe saw the world a little bit differently than the people around me. That gave me an outlet to describe what my experience was.”

Unlike many songwriters who discover songwriting as a career after moving to Nashville, the songwriter knew about the people behind the songs from an early age. Growing up around Music City, many of her friends’ parents worked in the industry. Welling recalls watching CMT and waiting for the credits to see who wrote her favorite songs, reading CD liner notes, and starting to recognize the same songwriter names over and over again. “I feel like I just always was more curious about the song,” she shared. “I think that curiosity is what led me to being a songwriter.”

After her family moved to Detroit when she was in middle school, Welling found herself missing Nashville even more. She eventually moved back and later attended Belmont University, where she began pursuing a career as an artist. She even released an independent EP that gained some traction on iTunes.

However, an unexpected vocal injury forced Welling to put singing on hold for a couple of years. Instead of walking away from music, she kept writing, and soon, some of those songs began getting cut by other artists. “I was like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I don’t have to be the artist. I can just keep writing songs,’” she recalled.

The Turning Point:

As Welling began focusing more on songwriting, she found herself writing with college friends Casey Brown and Russell Dickerson. Their second song together was “Yours,” and their third was “Blue Tacoma.” Both went on to be incredible feats for Welling and Dickerson respectively.

“Yours” became a bonafide hit, which led to more hits like “Blue Tacoma” and “Every Little Thing.” Welling’s songwriting career was kicking off with a bang. “Blue Tacoma” still holds a special place in her heart. Welling came into the writing session with most of the chorus already written, making the song feel like a combination of the songwriter she had become and the artist she once planned to be.

“That’s probably my favorite that I’ve done with Russell,” she shared. “That’s like the intersection of Russ’ artistry and what I used to do. So that song’s always really special to me because of that.” “Yours” also led to a full-circle moment for Welling. Jeffrey Steele, one of the songwriters she had looked up to growing up, heard the song and wanted to know who had written the lyrics. After finding out it was Welling, he asked to meet her.

Steele went on to offer the songwriter her first publishing deal while she was still on vocal rest. He also became an important mentor to her, teaching her lessons about songwriting that she still carries into every writing room today. “I tell him all the time that I feel like I carry him in my back pocket every time I go into a write,” shared Welling. “The things that he taught me as a songwriter changed the way that I write forever.”

From there, the songwriter continued to build an incredible career, earning cuts and hits with artists like Russell Dickerson, Thomas Rhett, Lauren Alaina, and more. Of course, a career in songwriting is not always as simple as writing a great song and watching it become a hit. Welling has experienced plenty of songs that almost became singles or projects that changed before release.

“There’s so much of the music industry that’s out of my hands,” she shared. “All I can be responsible for is writing the best song on that day.”

Today:

Flash forward to today and the future looks incredibly bright for Welling. The songwriter currently has multiple songs climbing the country charts, each with its own special story behind it.

One of those songs is “Ride, Ride, Ride,” which marks Welling’s first single with longtime friend Tyler Hubbard. The two met at Belmont, with Welling even calling Hubbard her first friend in college. After years of writing together, getting to finally share a single feels extra special. “We’ve known each other for so long. We’ve written a lot of songs together, so it’s fun to have a single as writers together,” she shared. “We used to write together back in college, and now we’re still working together.”

Despite all of her success as a songwriter, Welling knows just how unpredictable the career can be. After years of singles being pulled, songs almost making records, and other pieces falling through, she has seen several things seemingly click into place over the last year. “I really think that’s kind of a timing thing,” she shared. “There’s so much of the music industry that’s out of my hands.”

Now, Welling is also finding a new way to celebrate the songwriting community. Alongside fellow songwriter and best friend Lydia Vaughan, she recently launched Women’s Writes, a podcast that gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at the creative relationships behind great songs.

The podcast pairs artists and songwriters together to talk about their friendships, their writing rooms, and what makes their creative relationships work. The debut episode features Lauren Alaina, while upcoming episodes include pairings like Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington, as well as Ashley McBryde and Terri Jo Box.

In many ways, Women’s Writes feels like another natural extension of Welling’s love for songwriting. As a kid, she was the one waiting for the credits on CMT to figure out who wrote her favorite song. Now, she gets to have conversations with the people behind the music and share those stories with listeners.

“The song is the thing that makes me get up in the morning,” she shared. “As far as what’s coming down the road, I don’t know, because I don’t know what I’m gonna write tomorrow. I have one life, and this is what I want to do with it, I do it for the love.”

Connect:

To keep up with Parker Welling, follow her on Instagram.

Songs written by Parker Welling are available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.