Carla Wallace and five others join SOURCE Nashville's Hall of Fame

SOURCE Nashville inducted six new honorees into its Hall of Fame on August 25 at the annual SOURCE Hall of Fame Awards, held at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum inside Nashville's Municipal Auditorium: Debbie Cheek Carroll, Paige Conners, Cris Lacy, Sherry Oakley, Margie McGahey and Carla Wallace.

Grand Ole Opry star Mandy Barnett and radio and TV personality Kelly Sutton hosted the evening. Sutton opened the night by honoring Dolly Parton, whose death was announced earlier that same day, telling the room, "Although we're sad, her spirit is in this room. She lives on with each and every one of us."

Carroll, the first inductee honored, spent part of her career as a private practice therapist before working with MusiCares and Onsite Entertainment; she now serves as executive director of Belmont University's Center for Mental Health in Entertainment. "It's never been lost on me that there's something incredibly sacred about being trusted by another human during a hard time," she said.

The remaining honorees each built distinct careers across country music's business side. Conners worked across CBS Records, Sony Music Nashville, Warner Bros. Records Nashville and the Nashville Musicians Association. Lacy leads at Warner Records Nashville. McGahey spent time at WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Association and radio station 101.7 The WORM. Oakley began her career at BMI at age 17. Wallace founded the publishing company Big Yellow Dog Music in 1998 and later signed songwriter Meghan Trainor to a publishing deal after discovering her at a 2009 song camp in Colorado.

SOURCE itself dates back to 1991, founded by Shelia Shipley Biddy, Judy Harris and Pat Rolfe as Nashville's longest-running organization for women in the music industry. The Hall of Fame honors were created by Kay Smith in 2003 specifically to recognize the "women behind the music" who shape Nashville's business side without always being publicly credited for it.