Actress and singer Bridgit Mendler has joined the cast of Nashville for Season 5.

CMT reports that Mendler will be playing Ashley Wilkenson, "a young and beautiful YouTube sensation who is about to record her first album." The network describes Wilkenson as "self-assured, stubborn and extremely talented, but behind her tough exterior is a well of vulnerability."

Twenty-three-year-old Mendler has previously appeared in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place and Good Luck Charlie; she also starred in Undateable on NBC. In addition to her acting roles, Mendler is also a singer: She released her first album, Hello, My Name Is ... in 2012, and plans to release a follow-up project later this year.

In addition to Mendler, Jen Richards and Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founder Rhiannon Giddens have joined the cast of Nashville for Season 5. Showrunners are also casting for the role of Clay, “a creative, self-aware, highly motivated young man who suffers intense mood swings, but is nonetheless charming and outgoing.”

Season 5 of Nashville will premiere on CMT on Jan. 5; the season premiere will be two hours long. The network picked up the show for a fifth season in early June, following ABC’s cancellation of the TV drama in mid-May, and thanks in part to fan demandNashville will be broadcast and streamed on CMT, and also streamed on Hulu, which currently carries the show’s previous seasons.

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