Popular bluegrass and country music singer and songwriter Shawn Camp, who has also portrayed Lester Flatt in The Earls of Leicester since 2013, has been named as one of five celebrated writers to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2026.
A native of Arkansas, Camp was playing guitar, fiddle, and mandolin, quite well, mind you, long before he finished school. At 20 years of age, he set out for Nashville where he found work with The Osborne Brothers, and with country artists like Jerry Reed, Alan Jackson, Shelby Lynne, and Trisha Yearwood.
Though he had written songs as a youngster, he now made it a priority, placing his compositions with top bluegrass acts like Lonesome River Band (Tune of a Twenty Dollar Bill) and Del McCoury (My Love Will Not Change), as well as hits for the country scene like Would You Go With Me and Firecracker for Josh Turner, Two Piña Coladas for Garth Brooks, and River of Love for George Strait.
Perhaps his most compelling set of songs were written in collaboration with legendary songwriter Guy Clark, including Sis Draper, recorded by Ricky Skaggs as well as by Guy and Shawn, an absolute gem with lyrics set to the tune of The Arkansas Traveller, about a real-life fiddler named Sis Draper who left a huge impression on young Shawn growing up.
Camp has also had a career as a recording artist and solo performer, releasing a total of seven albums under his name for a variety of labels.
But this honor is all about his songs, which will be conferred later this year at the 56th anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala later this year, an invitation-only event.
Also to be inducted this year are Lyle Lovett, Bruce Channel, Taylor Swift, and Lee Thomas Miller.
Congratulations all, but especially to Shawn Camp who will live in my personal songwriters hall of fame just for Sis Draper, and for Durango, a brilliant song about a bluegrass festival recorded by Guy Clark and by Darren Nicholson.
