Romances on the road, writing love songs and playing them together in front of a live audience. It’s all very Rayna James and Deacon Claybourne, the love story behind the CMT hit series Nashville. However, in a beautiful version of life imitating art, there is a real-life Nashville love story going on behind the scenes. And Irish fans got to see it themselves last week in the 3 Arena, when the stars belted out the show’s hits.

Forget Garth Brooks, the cowboy boots were out in force for the talented actors, who can also sing a fine tune or two. Jonathan Jackson, who plays Avery Barkley, gave a country music rendition of Unchained Melody that secured a standing ovation, Chris Carmack, who plays Will Lexington, came with all that country charm you see on screen while Sam Palladio brought Una Healy on stage for a melody of Stay My Love.

There was, of course, Charles Esten, who plays the Romeo in the Deacon-and-Rayna love story, who had every Nashville fan on their feet.

Australian Fairy

However, it was Clare Bowen, the beautiful blonde who plays Scarlett O’Connor, who has the real-life love story on stage, and Irish Country Living got to sit down with her and her guitar-playing fiancé Brandon Robert Young, who was equally excited about playing in Dublin.

“We played here last year, and it was so much fun – quite a wild show,” Clare says with an Australian lilt, all evidence of the Nashville twang missing.

Dressed in a flowy summer dress and ready for show, her face is a shining ray of glitter, making her look almost fairy-like with her pixie haircut. “We’re a long way from Nashville, but we are always happily surprised and honoured to be part of something that people enjoy so much.

“It’s a very special thing to be on a stage singing to thousands of people, watching perfect strangers put their arms around each other because of words you wrote.”

While Clare sang her top Nashville hits including Black Roses and Borrow My Heart, the first single of her new album Little by Little is her favourite to sing on stage. “When we were touring here last year, Brandon and I wrote it with Amy Wadge, who is behind Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. We like to call it our love song to the world.

Little by Little

“With everything that has been happening in the UK and Europe, I think people have reached out to each other in a lovely way, even though these are times of fear and uncertainty. I realised a long time ago that one person can’t save the world on their own, but if we all stick together and spread as much love and kindness as we possibly can, you can make little corners of it glow.”

The idea of Clare and Brandon writing songs together on the road is very Nashville, but the sound is more mellow and soft. “Little by Little is definitely rooted in Americana, but country music is such a broad genre and the show has really highlighted that.

“You can go from the Buddy Millers and the Kasey Musgraves right through to beautiful Americana folk music and its rich tapestry, and then onto rhinestones, honky tonk and big hats. It’s that and everything in between.

“The important thing that binds it all together is that it started with folk music: stories about family and life, love and loss. That’s why it’s so relatable.”

Playing Scarlett

These themes have also been part of the success of Nashville, which is now confirmed for season six, and Clare’s character, Scarlett O’Connor, has been there right since episode one. So how would she like to see Scarlett grow?

“One of the things Scarlett has already grown into is taking care of herself. She is, to a fault, better at taking care of others than herself and has a really sad childhood story where, if she spoke her mind, she got hit by her mother.

“She has matured, though. I started her very small, because I had a feeling we were going to be here a while and I wanted her to unfurl her wings slowly, because it takes a long time in real life.

“It’s been lovely to play a character who was severely introverted to the point of being afraid to make a noise to what she can now do on stage. You see her rock out, but she still isn’t doing it just to make her happy. I think a lot of the romantic Scarlett-and-Gunner storyline is part of that, but we are starting to see her have more moments of strength.”

Wedding Plans

Fortunately, her real-life romance seems to be far less turbulent. Clare and Brandon are due to marry on 21 October, after a romantic proposal in the true home of country musi: the Grand Ole Opry.

“The wedding will be on a friend’s farm, just a little thing in Nashville. My family are coming from Australia, Brandon’s family are flying from Connecticut and Florida, and it’s going to be beautiful, about 150 guests. I’m not sure if that’s a big wedding in Ireland, but you meet so many people along the way and you want to share it with them.

“But we will be keeping it private, for the day itself, it will be just friends and family. Then afterwards, we will let people in a little bit more. I really am quite calm. If Liza – Liza is the horse – if she eats the cake, that’s fine, it’s just a cake. If I fall, it doesn’t matter. If I get stuck in something, my bridesmaids will untangle me – it’s just going to be lovely. I don’t care if it rains, it’s just not something I am going to stress about.”

And with that, our time is up, and Clare Bowen flits away in an air of glitter and elegance. And this Nashville fan pinches herself. CL