ABC/Mike LevineNashville‘s fourth season premieres Wednesday night on ABC with an answer to last season’s cliffhanger — Did Deacon Claybourne survive his liver transplant surgery? We caught up with the man who plays Deacon, Charles Esten, on Tuesday, but we didn’t get any closer to figuring out the answer to that question. It turns out people have been pumping Charles to reveal Deacon’s fate all summer long.
Charles tells ABC Radio, “I was at a show the other day and they had a question-and-answer session, and they gave a little six-year-old girl the microphone, and her question was, ‘Is Mr. Deacon gonna live?'” Charles tells ABC Radio with a laugh. “So, that was dirty pool. People have been wanting to know, and I appreciate that. It means they care.”
Charles admits he wasn’t on set when Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler shot his cameo on Nashville. Steven performs a cover of Patsy Cline‘s “Crazy” with Hayden Panettiere‘s character, Juliette Barnes, on Wednesday night’s premiere. Charles adds he heard nothing but great things about Steven’s time on the Nashville set.
Says Charles, “I talked to Hayden and she said it was just a blast, and everybody that I spoke to. He’s become a real Nashville fixture — not just our show, but that city itself. To have that kind of caliber talent and performer on our show, that’s huge.”
For his part, Steven was honored to sing that classic country song “Crazy,” which is a little more sedate than the 1993 Aerosmith hit of the same name.
Steven tells ABC Radio, “And it’s very old-fashioned and beautiful. I grew up on that song. It was an honor to do it and meet all the folks that put that show together.”
The appearance on Nashville is just the latest move into the country world for Steven Tyler. He’s become a fixture around Music City in the last few years and just released a country single, “Love Is Your Name.”
“Nashville is exploding. You know, if you just go there for a weekend, you’ll feel something’s going on,” Steven adds. “I want to be a part of it.”
Nashville airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
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