As a solo artist, she has charted five times on Hot Country Songs and recorded three studio albums.
Paulette Carlson began professionally singing in the dance bars in Fargo, ND, and in the Minneapolis, MN, area and built a large local following before heading to Nashville in 1978.
Soon after arriving in Nashville she was signed as a staff songwriter for the Oak Ridge Boys’ Silverline/Goldline Publishing Company.
Carlson founded Highway 101 in 1986 with session musicians Jack Daniels, Scott "Cactus" Moser, and Curtis Stone.
Marking Highway 101's Tenth Year Anniversary, Carlson reunited with original members, Curtis Stone and Jack Daniels.
In 2004, when her brother Gary, a Vietnam War veteran, was in the hospital, Carlson was inspired to write a song called "Thank You Vets".