Sara Evans was born Feb. 5, 1971, in Boonville, Mo., and raised on a farm near New Franklin, Mo. Two of her brothers began playing instruments, at when Evans was 4, her mother discovered that her daughter could sing. Soon, the family act was helping to support the household, earning $50 a night. When Evans was 16, she began performing every Saturday night at a club near Columbia, Mo., a gig that lasted two years.

She moved to Nashville in 1991 and met a musician from Oregon named Craig Schelske (now her husband) who had a band with his two brothers. She headed back with them to Oregon in May 1992 but returned to Nashville in 1995 to record demos. In late 1995, songwriter Harlan Howard heard Evans sing a new demo of his classic "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" and said, "Girl, I have been looking for you for years to sing my music. You're great!"

The tape of the song was passed along to RCA, which released her retro, twangy debut Three Chords and the Truth in 1997. It failed to make a commercial impact but was praised by critics. For her second album, Evans tried mainstream contemporary country, and took "No Place That Far" to No. 1. The title track from her third album, Born to Fly, also reached No. 1. Restless arrived in 2003.