Country music scored some new primetime cache in October, when the ABC drama Nashville debuted to almost nine million viewers. The series follows the romantic lives, career struggles and rivalry between two drastically different singers: Rayna James (played by Connie Britton), the well-established but currently foundering "Queen of Country," and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), the young country-pop crossover star du jour. The soundtrack to the first season is set for release on December 11th and features performances by both actresses and other series regulars, as well as production by T Bone Burnett, Dann Huff and Michael Knox. A deluxe version of the soundtrack is also set for release at Target.
Inside the Music of 'Nashville'
Now, you can hear four tracks from the extended release, including Britton's twangy take on "Changing Ground" and an acoustic version of Panettiere's saccharine ballad "Undermine." Clare Bowen, who plays the songwriter Scarlett O'Connor, also delivers a particularly deft bluegrass rendition of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," and Sam Palladio, who plays the aspiring musician Gunnar Scott, wails over arch guitar on "I'll Be There."
