Herb McCullough's family moved from Dunedin, a small town on Florida's Gulf Coast, to Winter Haven, Florida, when he was twelve years old. He attended Dennison Junior High and graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1962.

Herb says that his earliest musical influence would have to have been his mother, who he describes as having been "a gifted whistler who sang her heart out for me… and for her ownself."

He played trumpet in the WHHS band but claims he had to hear everything before he could play it 'cause he couldn't actually read music. While attending high school, Herb hung out with classmates, Jim Stafford, Jim Carlton, Kent LaVoie and Gram Parsons. In Herb's words, it was a "cool school!"

About Parsons, he says, "I didn't know Gram very well, though I spent a few nights hangin' out at his house with him. I only saw him once after high school… he reminded me that I used to loan him my car when I was workin' at Thriftway in Winter Haven…. back when I was 16 or 17; he was 14 or 15 and didn't have a license yet. I liked him. He seemed like a nice guy to me… albiet kinda sad and lonely. I'd sure like to swap some songs with him today!"

Although he hung out with the local music types, Herb did not yet play an instrument, sing or write.

After graduating high school, he attended Winter Haven Business College for a while, then Polk Community College for a year… and worked at various jobs as a welder, painter, electrician, and mechanic to support his family. Of course taking the road most travelled meant he had to quit hangin' out with the "pickers" because they kept totally different hours. But Herb was still a big music fan and would always be filled with pride each time he heard of one of his former classmates' musical accomplishments.

It was around 1968 that Herb heard Bobby Braddock being interviewed by local radio personality, Bunny Brown, on WINT 1360 AM radio in Winter Haven. Bobby was from nearby Auburndale, Florida and had played around the Central Florida area for several years before moving to Nashville in 1964. Herb was familiar with Braddock and knew of his songs. He got so excited sittin' there listenin' to Bobby talk about writin' and livin' in Nashville, that he drove out on Dundee Road to the radio station and met him after the show. Bobby was very cordial and encouraged Herb to try his hand at writing. So, thanks to Bobby, Herb went home and wrote his first song ...and a second ...and a third. That was also about that time that he ran into his old school buddy, Jim Carlton, who had also been doing some writing.

But, as the sixties wound down, Herb discovered motocross and his musical aspirations were relegated to the back burner. He opened The Dirt Shop, a motorcycle dealership in Winter Haven and commenced to submerge himself into the world of dirt bike racing. But his love for music was still always evident in the strains of loud rock'n'roll that blared from the pits at the motocross races, and from the shop. Herb thanks "Racer Randy" Terrell for always having "the newest, coolest stuff… CDB, JJ Cale, Leon Russell, Waylon, Tom T, Fogerty, Steppenwolf and, of course… Kristofferson". Even though Herb didn't realize it yet, his course was set.

It was also during that time that he would occasionally drive over to Clearwater to see Jim Stafford perform at the Glass Frog. Herb described Jim's act as "awesome and inspiring!"

It was in 1974, that Herb closed the doors on his marriage of twelve years and on his motorcycle shop. Nearly broke and broken from all the "fun" he’d been having --he jumped into his Camaro and headed north. His life was at an all time low and he admits that he'd thought about just tryin' to find a quiet vantage point from which to view his own demise. Fortunately, as Herb recalls, "early one mornin’ sittin’ on a cliff near the top of Chattanooga’s Lookout Mountain... lookin’ out and wonderin’ how many seconds the thrill might last ... I saw the light... "here comes the sun, dut, du dut"... shinin’ on the first day of the rest of my life!"

Having somewhat come to his senses, Herb again pointed his Camaro north, toward Nashville, and decided to take a stab at being a songwriter (or as he says,"calling himself a songwriter"). He hung out in all the songwriter hangouts and would mostly just listen... and write… not songs, but simple thoughts, words and phrases. Usually he'd just say he was shy, if someone handed him a guitar, until he hooked up with Wayne Renardson, a musician he’d known back in Florida. His friend loaned him an old classical guitar and showed him a few chords. Problem was Herb couldn’t seem to learn other people’s songs. So, with the scribble from his little notebook and that ol’ "gut string" guitar, Herb started songwriting.

Herb signed his first exclusive songwriter publishing agreement in 1978 as a staffwriter for Honeytree Music. That same year, hot country artist Moe Bandy, released Herb's "Try My Love on For Size" as the B-side of his CBS hit song "It's a Cheatin' Situation". This was the first in a long list of Herb's songs that would be recorded by both major and independant artists.

In 1979, Herb felt the need to be closer to his then teenaged children and moved back to Central Florida, just north of Auburndale. But leaving Nashville, right after gettin' his second Moe Bandy cut, was something his publisher couldn't understand. Most of his music buddies in Music City thought he was givin' up and a lot of folks told him his career was over.

But, thanks to Len Walls and the staff at Central Sound Studio in Auburndale, Herb was introduced to a whole new music community. "Lookin' back", Herb recalls, "I think that was exactly where I was s'posed to be when I was s'posed to be there." Herb felt that the available players were comparable to the players in Nashville -- but the environment was much more laid back. He liked the feeling of working and developing among friends.

Herb worked with the A-dale A Team at Central Sound for about two years and one of the last songs that he demoed, Hot Time In Old Town, became his first Mel McDaniel cut when he moved back to Nashville in early 1982. It was also during the early eighties that he ran into Kent LaVoie (then known as Lobo) in Nashville. Kent showed Herb a photo of them receivin' their Eagle Scout thingies together and invited him to a couple sessions he was workin' on. Herb and Roger LaVoie (Kent's brother) co-wrote several songs before the LaVoies both moved away.

Over the past 22 years Herb's songs have been included on nearly 70 recordings by a variety of artists including Shawn Camp, John Anderson, Diamond Rio, Mark Chestnutt, Toni Price, Marie Osmond, Hal Ketchum, Seldom Scene, David Schnaufer and Cyndi Lauper.

An audio sample of the songs of
Herb McCullough
[CLICK HERE]

Herb says that the best part (so far) of his years back in Nashville were the seven years he spent with Forerunner Music Group, from 1993 to 2000, as a co-publisher and staff writer. The group was co-owned by Allen Reynolds, Jim Rooney, Mark Miller and Terrell Tye-- all of whom worked for many years with Cowboy Jack Clement. The foursome sold the company in 2000 to Universal (who bought Polygram -- who bought Welk-- etc., etc.).

The list of Herb's friends and contacts in this business would make any veteran music person envious and although he's had his share of life's downhill plunges, he currently describes himself as, "the happiest, most inspired and inspiring, successful human being I've ever been".

You can't hardly do any better than that!

For a complete discography, some neat stories, co-writer thumbnails, and the latest happenings -- check out Herb's web-site, www.herbsongs.com.