ABC’s ‘Nashville’ Celebrates Season Four Premiere with Belmont University
(Left to right: Frankie Pine, Callie Khouri, Buddy Miller, Taylor Hamra and Charles Esten/Photos courtesy of Belmont University)
This past Wednesday (9/23) was the season four premiere of ABC’s hit drama Nashville. Season three left everyone on the edge of their seats when Deacon had to undergo a live liver transplant. Luckily, he made it through and things became heated as ever. With Juliette no longer on Highway 65 Records, Avery moving back home with his parents, Scarlett and Gunnar’s scandalous duet and a special appearance by Steven Tyler, season four started off with a bang.
The cast and crew celebrated the premiere at Nashville’s own Belmont University. Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business hosted a live screening and Q&A with the creators of the show, which included Creator and Executive Producer Callie Khouri, Frankie Pine (Music Supervisor), Buddy Miller (Music Producer), Taylor Hamra (Writer) and everyone’s favorite Charles Esten. They were also joined by Aubrey Peeples, Chris Carmack, Sam Palladio, Chaley Rose, Johnathan Jackson and Will Chase. The group gave an inside scoop on all aspects of the show; visually, creatively and musically. Music Supervisor Frankie Pine, known for her work on Magic Mike, Army Wives, Secrets and Lies and more, spoke on the creative process of finding and bringing to life the songs that we all know and love.
“(Nashville) is such a different animal and on a different level where, I don’t get to look at anything and find those songs, I have to envision what those songs are going to be and how they are going to work for our characters and how they are going to come to fruition at the end of the day,” she shared.”I find the demos and then Buddy (Miller) creates these beautiful versions of them and all I can do is imagine what that’s going to look like when the actor’s act it out. When I finally get to see it, it’s one of the most rewarding things ever”
They certainly do a great job; last week’s episode featured so many amazing songs. Our personal favorite was “Wake Up When It’s Over,” the heart wrenching duet by Gunnar and Scarlet. The song was written by Sony Music Nashville’s Maren Morris and Michael Logen. Watch it below:
In addition to the show’s musical process, the group touched on the creation of the show and Esten gave us a behind the scenes look in to the casting room and the first time he met Hayden Panettiere.
“I had never met her before, but I had went in and played two songs for them and I did two scenes and when I walked out the door, this doesn’t happen at most auditions, Hayden Panettiere was standing there with her ear by the door clapping,” he recalled. “She was really really sweet, and I was sort of blowing smoke and said ‘Well, I’ll see you on the set.’ I didn’t think I had a shot. But then one day we showed up on set and she was like ‘I’ll see you on the set!’”
You’ve gotta love that cast comradery! Nashville will be back again this week, and we’ll see how Avery will adjust being back in good ole’ Music City. Nashville airs Wednesday at 10/9c only on ABC.
