Tamworth-born singer songwriter Stephanie Penrose takes her music from country roots to world stage on Eurovision Australia Decides

The 23-year-old singer, songwriter and producer spent much of her childhood on horseback, but her fearless attitude meant she was just as comfortable on stage sharing her music with the world.

Her evolution as a pop artist has been swift - since moving to Sydney just a few years ago she's gone from humble country beginnings to performing on the world stage.

On the weekend, Penrose was featured on Eurovision Australia Decides singing her newly released track MARS.

"It was amazing, I was so grateful for the opportunity," she said.

"I wrote MARS at the end of 2020 working with producer Toby Chew Lee.

"We were sitting on the couch and we were so happy at the time that we found ourselves being in our own little world."

She said the song is about never giving up on love, and it was a dream to share it with a wider audience.

"Our friendship was like being on Mars because we were living in this fantasy world where we had no problems and life was good," she said.

She described being shortlisted into the top ten for Australia Eurovision Decides as "breaking through a glass ceiling".

"It got featured on TV and they asked me to do an interview about it and talk about the song and where I'm from in Tamworth," she said.

"It was a really exciting opportunity and I can't believe it to be honest."

With guitar in hand, Penrose began her career singing in Tamworth, was a graduate of the 2017 CMAA Academy of Country Music senior course, and a finalist for 2019 Toyota Star Maker.

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But since 2020 she's undertaken a creative renaissance, emerging as the modern pop artist she is today.

"I'd never really left Tamworth so country music was all that I knew," she said.

"From an influential point of view it makes me stand out in the pop world because there's not a lot of pop artists that write, or even sing the same as country artists do.

"I'm really kind of just fooling everyone in the pop industry because they can't quite pin what it is about my voice or my writing style, but I think it's going to be a really great platform for country artists and pop artists to collaborate in the future."

And, as the icing on the cake, she just found out her unreleased track 'A' has made the semi finals for the International Songwriting Competition.

"I've made it into the top 50 out of the 21,000 people who have applied for the Country category," she said.

"Which is kind of ironic because it was the only country song I submitted, since I'm now a pop artist."

Her unique sound has continued to gain attention - she recently took to the stage at the Sounds Dangerous Festival in Burleigh Heads, Queensland and has even performed on stage with twin-sister duo The Veronicas.

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