With the tremendous popularity and critical acclaim of his song "He Walked on Water", songwriter Allen Shamblin has positioned himself among the great storytellers who has given country music its legacy and continuous popularity.
Shamblin was born in Tennessee and grew up in Huffman, Texas, a small town about thirty miles northeast of Houston. In high school Shamblin excelled at baseball and basketball. During his junior year he began to teach himself to play the guitar and to immerse himself in the songs of Kris Kristofferson, Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark.
After graduating from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Marketing, Shamblin moved to Austin, Texas, where he worked as a Real Estate Appraiser by day and began to hone his songwriting skills by night.
In August of 1987, Shamblin moved to Nashville, Tennessee with fourteen completed songs. Upon his arrival, he held several jobs including parking cars and working in a warehouse. It didn't take long, however, for industry insiders to catch on to Shamblin's talent and for his demo tapes to get passed around. In May of 1988, he signed as a staff writer at Hayes Street Music/Almo Music Corp.
Within nine months, Shamblin had songs recorded by Lee Greenwood, The Forester Sisters, and James House. However, it was Randy Travis' #1 version of "He Walked on Water" which brought Shamblin to the forefront of the Nashville songwriting community seemingly "overnight".
He has since had a hand in writing such #1 songs as "Walk on Faith", recorded by Mike Reid; "In This Life", recorded by Collin Raye; "We Were In Love" recorded by Toby Keith; and "Don't Laugh At Me", recorded by Mark Wills. Other singles include "Life's A Dance", by John Michael Montgomery; "Thinkin' Problem" recorded by David Ball; "Man of My Word" recorded by Collin Raye; "I Can't Make You Love Me", recorded by Bonnie Rait; and Dove Award winner "In Gods Hands Now", recorded by Annointed.
To date, Shamblin has had more than 100 songs recorded by such artists as Wynonna, Patty Loveless, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Bette Midler, Ricky Van Shelton, Dolly Parton, Ricky Scaggs, John Berry, Kathy Mattea, Susan Ashton, "Prince" and others.
Allen writes for his own publishing company, "Built on Rock Music" and resides in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife Lori and their three young children.
