Rachel Proctor

Born in Charleston, Western Virginia, USA, country singer-songwriter Proctor toiled behind the scenes in Nashville for most of the 1990s before securing an opportunity to debut her own recordings in 2004. Raised in Charleston, she took part in pop talent contests during childhood, yet shifted toward country by her late teens. She started composing original songs, joined a country group, and honed her skills performing across local festivals while simultaneously making repeated journeys to Nashville in pursuit of a publishing agreement, ultimately relocating to the country-music capital. There she started a band alongside her husband Rob Byus and Blake Shelton, only to find herself divorced and still unsigned by decade’s end.

Despite repeated rejections she kept writing, achieving modest placements once the Lynns and Sonya Isaacs covered several of her pieces. Her decisive break arrived at the millennium’s outset when Martina McBride carried the Proctor–Rick Ferrell composition “Where Would You Be” into the upper reaches of the country charts. Labels consequently warmed to her, and BNA Records—having twice declined her earlier—offered a solo deal. The resulting 2004 release, Where I Belong, emerged as a polished mainstream-country set shaped by producer Chris Lindsey.