Songwriter / ASCAP / Musician
About
Carol Tatum, born in Dallas, is a 4th generation Texan with roots extending back to the early 1800s in Texas and Georgia during the Civil and Revolutionary Wars.
Carol Tatum started her music career at age five playing piano. At six, she pulled her grandfather’s jumbo body guitar from under his bed, laid it across her lap and played it like a mountain dulcimer. Carol’s main instrument for years was guitar and stringed instruments and Carol currently plays the harp performing approximately 70 gigs a year currently.
Carol has been in the music business for decades having moved from Dallas to Los Angeles and signing a record deal with Windham Hill Records (Sony/BMG in the 2000s) touring with the label as well as writing lyrics for the rock band Kingdom Come (“Hands Of Time” on Polydor Records and "Bad Image" on Warner/Electra/Atlantic).
Carol is the daughter of an MCA Records executive and her cousin Gary Myrick was signed to Geffen and Epic Records. Bug Music was the administrator of her catalog and Carol holds approximately 100 copyrights.
While living in Los Angeles, Carol performed at the Whiskey A Go Go, Troubadour, Country Club, etc. Having the goal of signing a record deal, Carol switched from guitar and mandolin to harp and signed to Windham Hill releasing a critically acclaimed album “Angels Of Venice,” appearing on 20+ compilation CDs and touring the U.S. with shows at east/west coast performing arts centers.
Carol’s #1 favorite “happy place” is composing and being in the studio recording and producing albums of her original material (she has seven self-released CDs) and writing music in several genres. Her engineer for over two decades was Florian Ammon (Pink, Van Halen, Quincy Jones, Rammstein).
Post-COVID and having recently moved to the Texas Hill Country, Carol decided to fulfill her dream as a composer of modern country songs drawing upon her untapped deep Texas roots and manifesting fresh new song ideas, combining pop-rock sensibilities with radio-targeted song styles, for both female and male artists. Carol’s favorite thing to do is draw from her songwriting “toolbox” to create memorable (usually big) choruses, implementing "prosody" and composing striking vocal phrasing to “capture the ear" with lyrics that evoke the deep emotions related to the joys and challenges of living life. Carol knows the feeling of driving in her car and hearing her music suddenly played on the radio, and she humbly envisions the chance of winning an ASCAP songwriting award someday.
Carol is a member of ASCAP and works to fulfill her goal of creating quality radio friendly country songs, with co-writers and solo. Her favorite songwriters are HARDY, Ashley Gorley, Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon, Miranda Lambert, Tom Douglas, Julia Michaels, Ryan Tedder and Amy Allen to name a few. Carol currently resides in the hill country outside of Austin, Texas.