Keith Harling (born May 8, 1963) is an American former

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist. He made his debut in 1998 with the album ''Write It in Stone'', issued on the

MCA Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

label. It produced four singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts. A second album, ''Bring It On'', was issued a year later on the

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

label.

Biography

Harling was born in

Greenwood, South Carolina Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 22,545 down from 23,222 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Lander University. Geography and C ...

. His family moved to

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

when he was still young. At age ten, Harling constructed a drum kit, which he taught himself how to play; he also developed his musical style through impersonation of songs that he saw on television. Later on, when in high school, Harling also learned to play bass guitar, saxophone, and trumpet, all of which he played in several bands. He initially moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, only to return to Chattanooga after failing to make himself known in Nashville. By 1996, however, he returned to Nashville, where he soon found work as a songwriter for

MCA Nashville Records Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

. After only six weeks as a session songwriter, he was also signed to a record deal. In 1998, Harling's debut album, ''Write It in Stone'', was released. Consisting mostly of songs co-written by Harling, his debut album produced two Top 40 entries on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts in "Papa Bear" and "Coming Back for You", but additional singles proved less successful. Having been dropped from MCA Nashville's roster in early 1999, Harling later signed to

, releasing his second album ''Bring It On'' that year. On his second album, however, Harling was persuaded to record mostly other writers' material instead of his own. The album's only official single, which was the title track, peaked at No. 52. Another selection from the album, "Santa's Got a Semi", charted in both 2000 and 2001 as a Christmas single before Harling exited Giant as well. Keith is currently living in the Chattanooga, Tn. area operating a small business with his wife

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harling, Keith 1963 births Living people People from Greenwood, South Carolina American country singer-songwriters Giant Records (Warner) artists MCA Records artists Country musicians from South Carolina Singer-songwriters from South Carolina