Kentucky native Camille Rae, a classically trained vocalist whose career background includes time teaching high school choir and working in theatre, has spent the last several months crisscrossing the country, visiting country radio stations in support of her current single, “I Need Me.”

“My car is my house right now,” she jokes.

Rae stopped by the MusicRow office to perform tracks from her current album, Come Find Me. The singer-songwriter wrote or co-wrote seven of the album’s 15 tracks. The album also features the work of writers including Lindsay Ell, Jaida Dreyer, Chad Jeffers, Jason Eustice and Brian White. Her years of vocal training shine in her controlled, commanding alto on tracks like “Bitter” and “Come Find Me.”

“I Need Me,” the second release from the album, anchors the album, serving as a musical homage to finding strength and self-worth from within. Rae was the sole writer on the song, which she penned five years ago, during a time when she says she “felt trapped and limited in my career.”

Each time she takes the stage, Rae says she feels how audiences have quickly taken to the strength and vulnerability in the song.

“One time, I was singing this and a woman ran out crying. She came back and said after hearing the song, that she knew what she needed to do in her life. Music and art has a way of doing more than you can imagine.”

MusicRow held it’s 29th annual MusicRow Awards on Wednesday (June 28). The event was hosted for the first time by SESAC and held in the CMA event space. Anderson Benson partnered with MusicRow again this year to sponsor the event.

The awards honored eleven All-Star Musicians who played on the most Billboard Top 10 album credits over the past 12 months in addition to the reader-voted Breakthrough Artist, Artist-Writer and Songwriter, and Producer and Song of the Year.

For a full overview of the event, read Bobby Karl’s recap here.

Kathy Anderson‘s Anderson Design Group has influenced Nashville music industry interiors for 30 years. MusicRow profiled Anderson in the 2017 MusicRow Awards print issue.

In this bonus web piece, MusicRow highlights some of her work, spread from Carrie Underwood (The HQ management offices and nursery), Kix Brooks (Cumulus office, Arrington Vineyards), Pam Tillis, Josh Turner, Steve Wariner, Reba, Vince Gill, Dierks Bentley and Deana Carter, The Green Hills YMCA, Arrington Vineyards, Eastland Café, Famous Saloon, Sinema restaurant and a handful of Opryland suites, the Grand Ole Opry’s 2010 restoration of the backstage and dressing rooms.

In addition her work extended to several homes, record companies and publishing companies for Tony Brown and many label headquarters from the 1990s, including MCA Records, Arista Records, Polydor Records.

Her most current work includes Alan Jackson’s AJ’s Good Time Bar, Blake Shelton’s Ole Red bar, Gavin DeGraw and his brother Joey’s Nashville Underground, a new restaurant in Printers Alley called Black Rabbit, offices for ole publishing, and remodeling Starstruck Entertainment and the RCA Studio A complex.

Pick up a copy of the MusicRow Awards print issue to read the full feature and how the DCR helps entertainment companies monetize their archived media. Or subscribe to MusicRow to receive your complementary issue.

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Opry Backstage and Dressing Rooms

Porter/Dolly Opryland Suite

Sinema Nashville

Arrington Vineyards

AJ’s Good Time Bar

Inside a gorgeous new building on Music Row, SESAC continues to champion its songwriters by sharing professional experience, words of encouragement, and an enthusiastic attitude to its incredible roster of talent. Some of the newest signings to SESAC are award-winning songwriters Lee Brice, Rosanne Cash and Jamey Johnson.

As two of the most visible members of the Nashville music industry, Kelli Turner, who has led some of the company’s most important licensing negotiations, and Dennis Lord, who is a fierce advocate for the rights of songwriters and intellectual property, provide leadership within the organization and throughout the community.

Turner heads up the Nashville office, overseeing a staff of 105 in a strikingly modern, nearly 39,000-square-foot space. In her role as Executive Vice President, Operations, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer, Turner monitors a multitude of departments with an indispensable eye for detail. She has been recognized as one of the leading women in the industry by Billboard and T.J. Martell Foundation. Turner joined SESAC in 2014.

Lord is SESAC’s Executive Vice President of Creative & Business Affairs. He leads the Creative Services team, which is responsible for the recruitment and signing of songwriters. This year marks his 20th anniversary with the company. With his guidance, SESAC has significantly expanded its representation of successful songwriters and composers. His signings include Zac Brown, the Kurt Cobain estate, Randy Newman, R.E.M., Adele and many others.

Lord has been a fixture in the Nashville music industry since the 1980s, when he wrote Travis Tritt’s breakout hit, “Country Club.” For two decades, he has set the tone for SESAC’s outstanding relationship with songwriters, and remains highly regarded within the community.

Sam Kling—SESAC’s Senior Vice President, Creative Operations—is responsible for helping create and execute growth strategies for SESAC’s creative departments. He also manages the creative operations’ day-to-day objectives. Kling is based in SESAC’s Los Angeles office, yet travels to Nashville frequently to immerse himself in the city’s unique musical culture.

Also on the creative team is Shannan Hatch, Vice President, Creative Services. Always striving to help songwriters reach the next level, she manages the Nashville-based Creative Services team. Her strong relationship with the Nashville songwriting and publishing community has resulted in significant and strategic growth for the SESAC roster. In 2014, she received the elite recognition as one of MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row. Following a career in publicity, Hatch joined SESAC in 2002.

ET Brown, Lydia Schultz, and Cristina Wheeler – who each hold the title of Manager – are vital members of SESAC’s Creative Services team by being knowledgeable in all areas of the songwriting field, from royalty statements to new legislation affecting songwriters’ rights. Because they interact with songwriters every day, their optimism and integrity are essential to the team’s overall success.

SESAC Nashville representatives stay actively involved in the careers of their songwriters, whether they’re keeping tabs on a newcomer, introducing new revenue streams, or presenting trophies for writing the year’s biggest hits. In fact, the SESAC Nashville Awards traditionally kick off the industry’s award season each fall, honoring the year’s most prominent country and Americana titles.

In Nashville and beyond, SESAC is a cornerstone of the music industry. On behalf of the most progressive performing rights organization in the U.S., Dennis Lord and the Creative Services team regularly seek out the top industry gatherings in Nashville to ensure that SESAC remains at the forefront of the community. At every level, from the writing room to the arena stage, their dedication to songwriters is undeniable.

The MusicRow awards issue also features the winners of MusicRow‘s 29th annual MusicRow Awards, which was held Wednesday, June 29 at SESAC and sponsored by Anderson Benson insurance in the CMA event space.

Inside the print issue are exclusive articles with producer busbee and his work with Lady Antebellum’s latest Capitol Nashville project, Heart Break. The Entertainment Services Division of storage facility Iron Mountain is examined in a spread with the billion dollar company’s Sr. Vice President Jeff Anthony and Nashville-based project manager Barry Cardinael. Additional edit includes G Major Management’s Virginia Davis and the work she has done with Big Machine Label Group’s Danielle Bradbery and headliner Thomas Rhett. Kathy Anderson of Nashville’s Anderson Design Studio additionally talks interior design for projects including RCA Studio A, Grand Ole Opry, Blake Shelton’s Ole Red bar, Alan Jackson’s AJ’s Good Time Bar, Gavin and Joey DeGraw’s Nashville Underground, among other projects for Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Reba and Vince Gill. Law firm Milom Horsnell Crow Rose Kelley detail the legal hangups with copyright infringement actions in the magazine’s concluding piece.

Single copies of the MusicRow Awards issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com and included with yearly subscriptions at no additional cost.

Photo: Gomez Photography