Rachel Thibodeau had her first taste of success when Billy Currington recorded “Good Directions,” a song she penned with friend and co-writer Luke Bryan. It soared to the top of the Billboard country singles chart and spent 3 weeks at #1. Rachel took home ASCAP's Song of the Year and she was honored with the NSAI’s prestigious "One Of The Ten Songs I Wish I'd Written" award. Her catalogue spans over 100 cuts recorded by top artists Luke Bryan, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Josh Kelley, Parmalee, Marie Osmond & Katharine McPhee. She has reached international chart topping success in Country and Pop with  two  Platinum #1’s -“Thank You for Cheating On Me”(Country Music Single Of The Year and Most Played Country Song of the Year) & “ Then There’s Me” – by Australian artist Diana Corcoran. Twice again Platinum with The X Factor’s Tommy Fredvang and Sweden’s Jill Johnson. Her latest international cut “Fading,” recorded by Edyta Gorniak of Poland, will be released in 2022. Always taking it to the next level, Rachel has signed a new publishing deal with BMG The New Music Company, where she will continue to build on her success as a songwriter and expand into Film & Television.

In early 2022, I found myself living alone in a Middle Eastern desert, surrounded by camels. About as far from my hometown of Mesquite, Texas as I could possibly be, and six months into the events job that took me to the region, I wondered, "What on earth am I doing here?" Don't get me wrong - I loved living in the Middle East, and in Ireland for the five years before that. In fact, world travel has been, and always will be, a huge part of my life. But there was something else I needed to do, something I'd been putting off for years, and I knew it was finally time. You see, music has always been my true home. From the time my mother caught me in my plastic toddler's chair, wide-eyed, with my face two inches from the opera on TV, to graduating with my bachelor's degree in music from LSU (geaux Tigers), I was immersed in it. My freshman year at LSU - we won the National Championship! ​ ​I still remember writing my first song as a child with my sister and cousins - a rousing rendition of Alan Jackson's 'Mercury Blues' but from the perspective of my stuffed mouse Puffy - and the next one with my friend Rebecca - a surefire hit about lemon poppy seed muffins that we recorded onto a cassette tape. But something unexpected happened at the age of 22. I quit music. It had become clear, in my mind, that the world of professional music was not for me. My friends were becoming full-time classical vocalists and hard-gigging jazz saxophonists, high school music teachers and church choir conductors. And none of those felt like me. Unfortunately, I thought that meant I wasn't good at music. Like many people, I didn't know that songwriting could be a career, or that I could forge my own musical path in ways that, in the dawn of the digital era, hadn't been invented yet. So after a stint in the New Orleans service industry, I packed up and headed abroad. After six years, I found myself in that desert in Dubai, yearning to get back to my musical home. And even though my travels could be seen as a detour, they've taught me something invaluable - they've taught me about people. And how, ultimately, we are all the same. We all want love, and we want to know we're loved. That's where Carly Z Creative comes in. After settling in Nashville, I found out I was actually good at music. Songwriting came naturally to me, and I loved it. Eventually I realized that songs could be gifts, and that I could use my talents to help people express and feel love in ways they never could before. Aligning with my purpose and performing songs I wrote in Springfield, TN ​Now, I'm honored to write custom songs for people of so many ages, backgrounds, and life stages. My favorite part is knowing that a song has helped strengthen a relationship, encourage a downhearted friend, celebrate an extraordinary achievement, or simply made someone smile.