Shirley and her husband Jim, currently reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They and their 5 children and 12 grandchildren enjoy family life and their ongoing involvement in the future of Shirley’s endeavors in her Country Tribute Show.

Shirley sang with her father, Roy Carter, and their family’s mixed harmony quartet, the award winning and highly acclaimed Chuck Wagon Gang. Roy, SGMA Hall of Famer, was the only child of nine, to graduate from college, Abilene Christian University, where he became a minister of the gospel. Shirley was born there in Abilene. Soon, Roy joined his dad, D.P. Carter (First inducted into the SGMA Hall of Fame, 1984), in the family singing group.

Shirley received vocal instruction earlier in her career in Dallas. She enjoys singing country, and, like Dolly, wrote her first song at the age of 8, which became the title song on an album. She is a very capable vocalist and has discovered a unique ability of having a chameleon like vocal ability. So, she began to go forward and was surprised to find she could imitate most of the female country legends. She sings with confidence and conviction and truly strives to sing from the heart to translate into song the lyrics written by her famous ladies of country legend. She has been in the industry all her life and Shirley has performed at the Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, numerous churches, festivals, political rallies, events including her many performances over the years as member of the Chuck Wagon Gang. The Gang has performed in many well known venues including The Grand Ole Opry, The Ralph Emory Show, in Nashville, and Carnegie Hall in New York.   

Shirley enjoys her singing and writing, but is also a professional seamstress who designs all of her stage costumes for the show.