Carly Goodwin

Carly Goodwin was born in Glens Falls, New York on July 28, 1981 Although Carly was born in NY, Carly lived many of her early years in Los Angeles, California. Carly began singing as early as she began talking, and it was soon apparent that she had true talent. For her seventh birthday, Carly asked for voice lessons and her talent blossomed under professional guidance. In fact, just over a year after starting her lessons, she was offered the pivotal role of young Cosette in the Broadway production of Les Miserables. She was unable to accept the offer, but it was still a concrete recognition of her singing ability.

While living in L.A., in addition to singing, Carly made television commercials for Hallmark and Kodak and made a guest appearance on the popular series The Wonder Years. When Carly was 12, her family relocated to Park City, Utah, where Carly spent her high school years, during which time Carly played the lead in many local and school musical productions. Carly sang The National Anthem regularly at Utah Jazz basketball games, world class ski events in Park City, and many other events.

Carly has always been a lover of nature, and she was thrilled when her family bought a ranch in Montana in 1993. Carly spent her summer vacations, holidays and any other breaks at Dreaming Bear Ranch. Carly loves to hike, camp and explore the world around her, and Dreaming Bear Ranch really helped foster those values within her. In 2004, Carly s family sold Dreaming Bear Ranch to finance Dreaming Bear Music, and its influence on her life continues.

After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in English, Carly packed her bags and headed to Nashville in August of 2003. She was ecstatic to move there and begin pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a country recording artist. Carly s influences are wide, and range from Bonnie Raitt, to the Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, The Eagles, The Beatles, Cold Play and Garth Brooks.

Shortly after moving to Nashville, Carly began meeting the people who would help her make her dreams come true. Through a friend of her grandparents, Carly was introduced to and worked with some great songwriters, including Carl Jackson. Impressed by Carly s extraordinary musical gifts, the multi Grammy award winning producer agreed to produce Carly s debut CD. Willie Nelson heard Carly s rendition of his classic hit, Crazy, and invited her to perform with him in Los Angeles. From there, Willie and Carly decided to record Crazy as a duet and include it on Carly s debut album- that was the first time ever that Nelson has performed a duet of his classic song on a county album. Carly and Willie have performed with one another several times, including Farm Aid and several state fairs. Carly and Carl loved working together and their collaboration on the Carly Goodwin debut album resulted in a true masterpiece.

Since releasing the album last year, Carly has been touring at fairs, festivals and military bases. One of the favorite songs on Carly s debut album, Baby Come Back Home, which is from the perspective of a soldier s wife, has garnered Goodwin a lot of attention. Carly co-wrote the song after hearing soldier s wives sending messages to their husbands overseas and being extremely moved. After people began to hear the song, the response was astounding. Carly was overwhelmed with requests from troops all over the world asking her to come and visit their bases. Carly has traveled to bases all over the country, including two visits to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2004. The groundswell also earned her guest spots on regional TV shows, two appearances on Fox & Friends national broadcast, and Glenn Beck s nationally syndicated talk show, as well as network affiliates throughout the country. Baby Come Back Home was added to the Armed Forces Network s play list of songs. Carly continues to receive e-mails from around the world in praise of her and her song.

After spending so much time with the troops all over the nation, Carly had the idea to create The World s Longest Letter to the Troops. This letter, which reached over 15 miles in length, was started during Fan Fair of 2005, and signed by many country celebrities, over 150,000 people from all 50 states, and has even been signed by Congress. When asked about the letter, Carly responded, It has been an amazing experience for me. I have seen the heart of America, and the love and support for our troops in everyone. I am very grateful that I have been able to spend time with so many of the men and women that do so much for our country, and I am honored to be involved in showing them our support.

Goodwin will be spending the month of January overseas in the Persian Gulf, touring bases and performing, as well as delivering The World s Longest Letter To Our Troops. She will be at Fan Fair, and performing at fairs, festivals and bases throughout the country. Carly has big dreams and a big heart. Her goal in pursuing music is to help others, and to give back. She has affiliations with AAHP (Artists Against Hunger and Poverty) as well as Boundless Playgrounds, and numerous organizations that help military families.