Raised in the live music capital of America, Camille Terracina ‘26 is working hard to make her dreams a reality.

An aspiring singer/songwriter, Terracina discovered her love of music from birth in Austin, Texas.

“I have been playing with bands since I learned to play guitar, and I loved it, and I didn’t start singing and songwriting until I was 17,” Terracina said.

Terracina performed her first song in April 2022 and hasn’t stopped writing since. Although she is musically inclined, Terracina is not studying music. Instead, she is an environmental studies and Spanish double major.

“I study it in my own ways and then just write what comes to me. I’ve never been classically trained,” Terracina said.

Terracina’s high school music teacher told her that half of the people in the music industry know everything about music theory and the other half don’t, but instead know music naturally or intuitively. Terracina knows her music from her soul.

While she loves environmental studies and Spanish, Terracina’s number one passion is music. To help with getting discovered, she performs local gigs around Spartanburg.

“I’ve started taking it more seriously the past two years and really starting to push stuff out,” Terracina said.

To aid in that process, Terracina recently released a single on Oct. 10 called “Desert Rain.”

She found her inspiration for the song while working in New Mexico two years ago.

“It’s a story about heartbreak and thinking about your ex, which is funny because it’s not my story. It’s someone else’s story,” Terracina said.

She recorded the song in Austin with her neighbor, who is a talented guitarist. Terracina had a blast recording the song, workshopping it for two weeks before releasing it.Terracina enjoys using her environment as inspiration for her songwriting. As a nature lover, she will often find new ideas close by. With another song she released, “Cowboy Killer,” she heard the phrase as a Marlboro Red cigarette and kept it in her mind for a while.

“Eventually, it came to me that it could be a double meaning of the cigarette and the girl who all the guys want,” Terracina said.

Sitting down and writing does not come naturally to Terracina. Like many people, she needs some inspiration and will often come back to songs that she had written earlier.

“Sometimes I won’t pick a song back up for months and then I’ll come back to it and decide I don’t like it or have ideas to change something to make it better,” Terracina said.

Growing up in the South, Terracina has grown to love country music and found that to be the genre she wanted for her songs, along with folk and Americana.

“I would say that I identify more with Texas country. I love country music, but it feels like it’s taken on a new meaning these days, and I don’t identify with pop country,” Terracina said.

Terracina’s ultimate goal is to be able to make money from singing and songwriting and ultimately making a living from it. She has gotten some inspiration from her favorite country artists, such as Kacey Musgraves, Flatland Cavalry, Randy Travis and Kaitlin Butts.

“Willie Nelson is my dream person to collaborate with. He’s one of my inspirations as a Texas music icon, and I’ve loved him since I was a kid,” Terracina said.

The Wofford community has been very supportive of Terracina’s passions and wants to help her get her music out into the community.

“I think that’s really special,” Terracina said.

Terracina’s discography can be found on all streaming platforms.