An actress and singer with a background in television, film, and the stage, including musical theater, Clare Bowen became a Billboard-charting country artist with her soundtrack recordings as Scarlett O'Connor for the TV series Nashville (2012-2018). Sporting a sweet, soft-spoken delivery and wistful material to match, she made her solo recording debut with Clare Bowen in 2019. It saw her tweak her style toward more adult contemporary-minded pop without completely abandoning twang or her familiar lilting vibrato. Bowen was born in 1984 in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. A childhood cancer survivor, she grew up listening to everything from Paul Simon to Dolly Parton and was drawn to the arts, eventually graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2007 with a degree in creative arts. In 2009, she landed a lead role in the Australian film The Combination and appeared on Australian TV shows including The Cut and All Saints. A recurring role on TV's Home and Away (2010) followed, as did parts in the feature films The Clinic (2010) and Not Suitable for Children (2012). Equally at home on the live stage, she also had roles in productions of Candide, Our Town, and Spring Awakening, among others. In 2012, Bowen followed the advice of then-Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Cate Blanchett and headed to Los Angeles. That same year, she was cast as songwriter Scarlett O'Connor in the ABC television series Nashville. The first season produced two duet singles for Bowen and castmate Sam Palladio (as Gunnar Scott), "If I Didn't Know Better" and "Fade into You." With production by Buddy Miller, both songs flirted with the country Top 100 list. Bowen and Palladio were among the cast members featured on The Music of Nashville: Season 1, Vol. 1 (Big Machine Records), which topped the Billboard soundtracks chart, hit the Top Five of the country chart, and reached number 14 on the Billboard 200. The show went on to produce eight more Top Ten soundtracks albums by the cast, and Bowen reached number 41 on the country chart with 2014's The Nashville Cast Featuring Clare Bowen as Scarlett O'Connor: Season 1. Bowen signed with BMG Rights Management (US) for her eponymous solo debut, which saw release in April of 2018, not long before Nashville aired its final episode that July. Featuring an appearance by Buddy Miller and songs mostly co-written by Bowen with her husband, singer/songwriter Brandon Robert Young, it spent a week at number 65 on the album chart in the U.K. Bowen followed it with a U.S. tour in support of a reunited Sugarland. ~ Marcy Donelson & Steve Leggett