Nashville
The Men Of NASHVILLE: Who's Your Fave … Jonathan Jackson, Charles Esten, or Eric Close?

Courtesy/ABC7
ABC’s hit new show Nashville is striking a chord with audiences and while the women take front and center stage with series stars, Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, plenty of the men are getting the attention and fans think the cast is red hot!
ABC 7 in Washington D.C. caught up with Jonathan Jackson, Charles Esten, and Eric Close, and filed this story and video! Starting with Jonathan Jackson whose Avery Barkley delivers a healthy dose of drama each week. Cast as a rocker struggling to find a place to hang his hat on the country scene, Jackson says the show resonates with people outside of the Nashville norm. “My character, ‘Avery Barkley’ in particular, he doesn’t really do traditional country music,” said Jackson. “And he’s doing avant-garde indie rock because that stuff is happening in Nashville.”
Jackson is part of an all-star cast that includes Charles Esten (Deacon Claybourne) as the former band member and lover of country queen bee, “Rayna James”. It’s not just his acting chops on display, but his pipes as well. Every actor sings each note of Nashville poetry. “When the words are as good as these songs it’s the easiest thing to do,” explained Esten. “When you have a song that great, and when the scenes are this great, it’s the easiest thing to do.”
Esten joined co-star Eric Close (Teddy Conrad) at the CMA’s. And as Close’s character is in full campaign mode for Mayor of Nashville, ABC7 just had to ask if he has any political aspirations himself. “I’m kind of enjoying all the attention so we’ll see,” said Close. “I gotta say this guy could be the mayor of Nashville. He’s the friendliest guy in the world.”
After the jump, watch the Men of Nashville, and then let us know who is you favorite guy? Nashville airs Wednesdays nights at 10pm on ABC.
Well this is easy, although I love all three without any question Jonathan Jackson is my favorite! All three are very good actors but JJ has such phenomenal acting skills and singing chops which is one of the reasons he’s my favorite! Nashville really lucked out on this cast including Connie and Hayden! My hope is they realize what a gift they have and don’t become predictable, they need to mixed it up and the characters that you think wouldn’t never do the unthinkable actually in the end do it. Keep it fun.
while i have always been a JJ fan from his days on GH, i’m actually really really liking Charles Esten and the character he plays…he’s a bit of a hunk lol
My favorite is Charles Esten. I’m so invested in this character and his story. I can’t wait to see what happens with him.
While I love Jonathan Jackson, I’m not loving Avery.
Teddy who? Give me more Powers Boothe…I’ve always loved his work and he’s great as Rayna’s dad even if he is mean as a rattlesnake.
Well, I’m a wee bit biased as a long time GH fan, Jonathan Jackson hands down. Just loving this show and thrilled for Jonathan that he brought his guitar and voice along for this acting audition. Great quality show. Kudos to T. Bone Burnett and co.
There were two reasons I chose to check out Nashville. The first is that it is my hometown and I wanted to see how it would be portrayed, which turns out to be quite accurately. It’s not perfect but there’s no where else I would rather be. The second, and the reason I keep coming back, is JONATHON JACKSON. Love his acting, love his music. Loved him on General Hospital as the young Lucky Spencer. Loved him as Lucky the second time around (hated the writing at the time though). Can’t wait to see more of this struggling not quite bad boy AVERY. His rendition of KISS this week was more than I hoped for. I enjoy al the men on Nashville, but I will keep watching to see what AVERY is up to next.
Sam Palladio, who you did not include in your article! He’s the hottest.
I “heart” Charles Esten. (A LOT!) 🙂
Charles Esten no contest
I’m partial to Eric Close…out of those three. He’s the one I’m more familiar with.
Jonathan Jackson is a good actor, but not to my liking in the looks department.
Charles Esten I’ve never seen before, but he is good looking and he’s a good actor also.
Definitely Charles Esten! Love Deacon!! Second would be Eric Close and JJ third
Love the hot sexy- Charles Esten !
Charles Esten, then Gunner and whoever plays him and then JJ.
My favorite Nashville man is definitely Charles Esten. I’d watch the show for him and his songs alone. Unfortunately I can rarely watch it live because I work late at DISH on Wednesdays, but I catch it on my DVR. I have the DISH Hopper, which is set to auto-record Nashville and the other big four prime time network shows using Primetime Anytime, so I can always watch the show even though I work when it airs. Having the show recorded also makes it easy for me to re-watch my favorite parts, or re-listen to Esten’s songs. Sideshow was a particular favorite of mine.
DEFINITELY JONATHAN JACKSON….he was so good on GH, it’s good to see him utilizing his immense acting talent to combine his music with acting…I really wish he would come back to GH, but I am happy the show is successful…maybe he can stop in again some time…I would go so far as to say, he was the BEST actor on GH.
Nashville
AXS TV to Air All Six Seasons of ‘Nashville’
The Music City soap opera is back featuring notables, Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer, General Hospital) and Hayden Panettiere (ex-Lizzie, Guiding Light), when its returns now to its new home AXS TV. The cable network is now set to rebroadcast all six seasons of the country music drama originally on ABC.
Nashville kicks-off on AXS TV on Monday, September 30th and airs weekdays and weeknights at 2pm ET and 11pm ET. The show, which debuted back in 2012, a brings to life the tremendous highs and devastating lows of the cutthroat Country scene, as a group of artists struggle and strive to make their way in the town known as Music City. The series stars Connie Britton as Country Queen Rayna Jaymes, an industry icon fighting to stay on top as a new generation of up-and-coming musicians – led by talented but troubled songstress Juliette Barnes (Panettiere) – light up the charts.
GH’s Jonathan Jackson played by Avery Barclay, Charles Esten played Deacon, Claire Bowen played Scarlett and Eric Close played Teddy Conrad, plus more were in the standout cast. Nashville aired on ABC from 2012-2016, and then was picked up by CMT for its final two season through 2018.

Photo: ABC
In addition to its captivating plots and unforgettable performances, Nashville brings the realism to life with special guest appearances by an impressive roster of Country music megastars including Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Luke Bryan, Kacey Musgraves, Thomas Rhett, and Trisha Yearwood, among others; as well as rock trailblazers Steven Tyler and Elton John; pop standouts Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson; and many more.
Greg Drebin, AXS TV’s Head of Content and Marketing said in a statement, “As the premier destination for music-themed content, Nashville is a perfect addition to our network. With its unique blend of world-class storytelling and talent, with real life music legends and musical performances, we are confident that Nashville will be a huge hit with our audience. The addition of Nashville is another significant step in our strategy to enhance AXS TV for both viewers and advertisers.”
AXS TV is a leading television, streaming, digital, and social music and entertainment brand owned and operated by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc. AXS TV’s programming celebrates music’s rich history and keeps its audience current on what’s happening in music today with non-fiction docs, live concerts, music news and information, reality shows, and well known programs including The Big Interview with Dan Rather and The Top Ten Revealed. AXS TV is also home to TNA Wrestling, one of the world’s top wrestling brands. Multi-platform AXS TV is available on television in all 50 states and across Canada, parts of the Caribbean, and streaming through its FAST (free-ad-supported-streaming television) channel. AXS TV has a vast reach on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. For a full list of providers and territories, please visit axs.tv/subscribe.
Are you looking forward to seeing Jonathan Jackson, Hayden Panettiere, Connie Britton and more in this encore of Nashville? Comment below.
Nashville
Hayden Panettiere Reveals Filming ‘Nashville’ was ‘Traumatizing’; Writers Used Her Personal Struggles with Addiction, Postpartum as Storylines
Nashville and former Guiding Light star, Hayden Panettiere (ex-Lizzie, GL) opened up about her final seasons on the ABC country music primetime drama, where the show touched too close to home for the actress who played lead character, Juliette Barnes.
In an interview with The Messenger, Hayden shared that during the run of the show from 2012-2018, she feels that the writers, more often that not, pulled from her real life while crafting Juliette’s storylines.
Hayden said on the years she spent filming the series that it was “also very traumatizing because I felt like I was acting out my own life.”

Photo: JPI
Previously, the actress had shared that her dependency on alcohol and opioids as a teenager led to her dependency in her adult life. In addition, Nashville told the story of Juliette’s postpartum depression, which also mirrored Panettiere’s experience who went through the same thing when her own daughter was born.
Explaining what went down behind the scenes, Hayden recalled: “Straight from the beginning, it was like, I’m dating a football player, (and then) Juliette dates a football player. And then they turned her into an alcoholic. Then they turned to her leaving her daughter and going to this crazy (place) in Europe, and it was very obvious.”

Photo: ABC
The actress added, ‘They weren’t doing their homework. They weren’t creating new storylines. They were just looking at my life and going, ‘Oh, let’s just take what she’s going through and put our little spin on it.’ And then, ta-da! It’s done and done.”

Photo: JPI
Hayden added that she didn’t have time to care of herself and the pain she was going through physically and emotionally, so she tried to watch mindless TV and shows to help her calm down. Panettiere also felt that when she knew she had to go back to the set of Nashville, she did, “anything to keep my mind off of that because I knew that next day I was going to be back at it again. I was like, tear central. I don’t even think on a soap opera that I cried as much (as I did) on Nashville.”
Hayden is set to make three upcoming appearances of her A Conversation With Hayden Panettiere live series in New York on February 23 and Washington D.C. on February 24.
So, do you think the Nashville writers literally stole creative ideas for the character of Juliette Barnes based on Hayden’s personal struggles? It certainly on paper seems so. Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Jonathan Jackson Reunites with Stars from ‘Nashville’ for New Tour Across the UK
He won five Daytime Emmys as General Hospital’s Lucky Spencer and now actor and musician, Jonathan Jackson is scheduled to head to the United Kingdom this fall, when he reunites with some of the cast of the former ABC primetime music city drama, Nashville.
Jackson shared on his Instagram, “This has been in the works for a while, and I’m thrilled to announce that the NASHVILLE cast and I are reuniting for a special UK tour this October. I’m excited about this!”

Courtesy/ABC
On Nashville, Jonathan Jackson starred for six season as Avery Barkley before the series concluded in the summer of 2018, after it moved from ABC to CMT for its final two seasons.
Joining Jonathan on the Nashville reunion tour are his former co-stars Clare Bowen, Charles Esten, and Sam Palladio. The fab four will play shows in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, and Cardiff, as they tour the UK.

Photo: GigsandTours
If you are in the UK and wanted to get your tickets early, the presale is already underway. The general sale tickets will become available tomorrow on Thursday, March 9, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Go to Gigs and Tours.com to purchase.
With GH’s 60th anniversary just a few weeks away, do you wish somehow Jonathan Jackson was brought back just for even a little while to reprise his role as Lucky? Would you like to see the ‘Nashville’ tour here in the states? Comment below.
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