Introducing rae: The Latest Signee to River & Row Management
Nearly seven months after the launch of River & Row Management, founded by Emma Harger and Annie McNamara, I hopped on a call with Harger and her latest signee, rae. Following the signing of Monica James when the company made its debut in January, Americana-folk artist rae is the second artist on the River & Row roster.
rae committed to working in the music industry as a young teenager, “I pretty much just, like, tried to hone my writing skills as much as I could throughout high school, and I knew probably from the time that I turned 13 or 14 that I wanted to go to Belmont and I wanted to be in Nashville doing something in the music industry, whether that was on the business end, or that was on the artist end.” She credits producer Nate Spencer as her unofficial mentor during her start at Belmont in 2023. The two met in rae’s first week of freshman year through her sister after he was assigned an audio engineering project that involved working with an artist.
rae speaks of Spencer with immense gratitude, “That, like, friendship and partnership, like, really opened the door to learning more about artistry and incorporating visuals and learning what it's like to be in the studio.” They both loved the final product of the project so much that they went on to record rae’s debut EP Canyonlands (2024) together.
Harger and rae, an incoming Belmont University sophomore and senior, respectively, met via Belmont Service Corps two and a half years later. Harger explained her decision to sign rae, “I’m a folk girlie at heart… but I think for me, it's less about the music and more about the mindset.” A quick look at rae’s Instagram (@mynameis.rae) confirms what Harger saw in the singer’s attitude toward turning a passion into a paying career; rae often posts multiple reels of her songs each week, has performed around Nashville, and has several singles and an EP out. She’s not wasting any time getting her voice heard.
As Harger and Rae embark on their management journey together, Rae hopes to release another single, “My last release was last October, and it's been quite a while of me not being in the studio, and that's a part of being an artist that I just love.” With upcoming releases, Harger is determined to hone River & Row’s rollout method less toward virality and more toward organic growth. She values organic growth more after having interned at Wisconsin’s Mile of Music Festival over the summer. Combining this festival experience with Harger having booked Nashville’s prominent Exit/In venue for Sisters in Song, a showcase presented by River & Row this past March, Harger’s booking skills are a large part of what made Rae enticed to be managed by her.
Rae is a buzzing ball of energy, makes an excellent first impression, and is exactly the girl you want on your playlists in upcoming years. Stream “Caught Up in the Dust” here and keep up with this manager-artist relationship on Instagram at @mynameis.rae and @river.row.mgmt.
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