‘Nashville’ Concert Special Airs on ABC

(L-R): Chip Esten, Ashley Monroe, Sarah Siskind, Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen, Chris Carmack

Nashville: On The Record, a music special featuring the cast of the television series, aired last night (April 23) instead of a new episode. The show earned a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating, attracting about 4.17 million viewers and sliding ABC into second place among the major networks (behind a rerun of CSI), according to Zap2It. MusicRow was there when the concert was previously taped at The Ryman.

Cast members of Nashville performed show favorites at The Ryman then sat down at the Bluebird Café for acoustic performances and an intimate look at the songwriting process with the songwriters, talking about how this music found its way to the show and what it means to the actors and songwriters.

Among the songwriters appearing on the special were Trent Dabbs and Caitlyn Smith, who co-wrote the anthem, “Don’t Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet,” which Hayden Panettiere and Jonathan Jackson’s characters have performed, as well as Striking Matches (duo Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis) who co-wrote “I Ain’t Leaving Without Your Love” with Cary Barlowe, performed by Jonathan Jackson, Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose on the TV show. Also appearing is notable songwriter Ashley Monroe, solo artist and member of the Pistol Annies, who co-wrote “A Life that’s Good” with Sarah Siskind, which has been performed by Lennon and Maisy Stella and Charles Esten on the series.

Nashville: On the Record is usually a documentary web series, with Buddy Miller as Executive Music Producer and George Flanigen as executive producer and director.

New episodes return next Wednesday (April 30), with websites including MusicRow and Zap2It predicting renewal for a third season.

Actor Michiel Huisman won’t be returning to Nashville, where he plays producer “Liam McGuinnis.” He has been promoted to a regular cast member on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Big Machine Records, ABC Studios and Lionsgate recently celebrated the success of the ABC Nashville soundtracks. To date, the collective projects have sold over 600,000 albums and 3 million individual track downloads. The Music of Nashville Season 2, Volume 2 soundtrack will be released on May 6.