Singer/songwriter Robin English was born into a musical family in Texas in 1971 and grew up in Arlington before moving to Nashville, TN, to pursue a career in country music. Like many other aspiring country stars, she played in local clubs with her band and wrote hundreds of songs with more than a hundred other songwriters. She also found time to graduate with honors from Belmont University and attend law school. For a time, she was a member of a group called the Young Riders, along with Blake Shelton, Rachel Proctor, and Ryan Murphey. In 2000, she signed a solo recording contract with Columbia Records. Her debut single, "Girl in Love," which she co-wrote with Marcus Hummon, was released August 21, 2001. It reached number ten in Billboard's Top Country Singles Sales chart. Interestingly, it did not chart at all in the regular Billboard country singles chart, which is based solely on airplay, an indication of the widening gap between what country music fans liked to hear and what country radio liked to play for them in the early 21st century. Columbia never released a full-length album with English, who asked for her release from the label in the wake of extensive personnel changes there. Returning largely to road work, she opened for such artists as Clint Black, Brad Paisley, Joe Diffie, and Mark Chesnutt. With Jess Brown and Tony Lane, she co-wrote "A Far Cry from You," which appeared on Tracy Lawrence's 2004 album Strong, and she contributed background vocals on Reckless Kelly's 2005 album Wicked Twisted Road. After releasing Hello Me on Global Row Productions in 2004, she signed to the independent Aspirion/Brass Ring Records label in December 2005, debuting in early 2006 with her single "I'm the One." A self-titled album repeating some of the same songs from Hello Me followed on September 19, 2006, as she went out on tour opening for Willie Nelson. ~ William Ruhlmann