Howard began her professional career as a singer-songwriter in 1997, writing for Patty Loveless, John Michael Montgomery, Jessica Andrews, Lila McCann and others.
[1] After signing to Rising Tide Records Nashville, she earned the first of two Grammy Awards with her cover of the hymn "Softly and Tenderly" for the soundtrack of the film The Apostle[2] before the label closed in March 1998.
[8] In 2004, Howard shared in her second Grammy Award for "If I Could Only Win Your Love," a duet with Ronnie Dunn for Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers.
Howard has sung vocals on numerous albums for major artists, including Dolly Parton,[9] Patty Loveless,[10] and Vince Gill.
In 2011, Martina McBride recorded Howard's "Whatcha Gonna Do" (co-written with Rachel Thibodeaux and Jason Sever) for her album Eleven.
[21][22] She has also co-written numerous songs for Gwen Sebastian and was a co-writer with Charles Esten (of the TV series Nashville) for his single "Don't Cry Long.
"[23][24] With husband Elisha Hoffman she also has songwriting credits on the hard rock band New Medicine's 2010 album Race You to the Bottom and "World Class Fuck Up" from its follow up Breaking the Model (2014).
[25] In 2014, Howard joined Suzie McNeil, Marti Frederiksen, Andrew Mactaggart, Sarah Tomek, and husband, Elisha Hoffman to form the country rock group Loving Mary[26] in which she serves as songwriter, vocalist, and bassist.
The group joined Aerosmith's Steven Tyler as backup band on his debut country solo studio album We're All Somebody from Somewhere and its supporting "Out On A Limb" tour in the U.S. and Japan.
In her AllMusic review of Forgive, Maria Konicki Dinoia called the title track a "chill-inducing masterpiece" and described the album as "loaded with diversity, freshness, and inspiration.
"[32] CMT News described "I Don't Paint Myself Into Corners" as a "soaring declaration of freedom"[33] while Billboard Magazine called it "pure country joy.