I hope it doesn’t get cancelled! It’s very entertaining, and I love the music. 
(Ever since watching the last episode I’ve been on the verge of going to iTunes to buy “No One Will Ever Love You”…)
I’ve been looking for a good drama soap to sink my teeth into, and I think this is it. I haven’t been confused by who the different characters are and for the most part the story turns have been believeable, Powers Booth notwithstanding. Connie Britton keeps me riveted, surprisingly, since I thought she was a huge downer in American Horror Story. Does anyone know if all the actors are doing their own singing? I assume so, but I always find it fascinating when a good actor is also a good singer. I don’t know much about country music but it seems to me that the songs featured on the show are good enough to make singer/stars out of the performers.
Some of the music is pretty catchy…
Yes.
I’m a Connie Britton fan, but so far I’m not crazy about her voice. I did wind up buying “No One Will Ever Love You,” and have listened to it several times: her solo singing is kind of just this side of good. Passable, and better than some others I’ve heard, but kind of thin and a touch…I don’t know…like, maybe she doesn’t have much of a range outside of that tune (?). She sounds great during the duet parts, though: her voice meshes well with Charles Esten’s. But he’s clearly the stronger singer (so is Hayden Panettierre), and I wouldn’t buy her as a Reba McEntire-type figure based solely on that song.
I thought the first episode was great, but last week wasn’t, so I was a little worried – shouldn’t’ve been. These characters are not particularly cartoony (except for Powers Booth), and clearly there’s going to be some pretty intricate plotting.
Liked how the young girl’s BF was so supportive of her – but also in that recording booth to meet the producer. Is he a good guy or a bad guy?
And the sister – still not clear whether she’s a good guy or a bad guy. What game is she playing?
Plus, though it looked like the tour question was settled in the first ep, I’m not sure it’s been settled yet. Loved the ending with Juliette – and the previews [which I will not specify for the purists who insist that previews are spoilers] … man, I’ll be there next week.
There does seem to be some welcome depth to these characters. Juliette’s mommy issues have come home to roost (literally), and even Rayna’s dad - though still the most stereotypical - has been given a bit of backstory. Deacon and Rayna are both genuinely torn, and Juliette has a little more going on than the naked ambition she displayed early on. And yes, we still don’t really know how Avery (the punk boyfriend) and Tandy (the shadowy sister) are going to act/react in their respective situations.
Really liking the show, and hope they follow up on the promise of adding a little depth to Powers Booth’s character. Also, of course, another excellent episode of music. “Fade Into You” sounded great.
Highlight - Rayna talking to Deacon and being unable to not cry. Connie Britton was awesome.
I was a little bit confused with the very last scene in the grocery store (Kroger!). I thought Juliette saw those girls watching her, so when she lifted the nail polish I thought maybe she was trying to capture some headlines or something. But that doesn’t really make sense and the previews don’t make it sound like she planned to be seen.
Also I was surprised and glad when Deacon said ‘no’ to her at the end - I was sure he had given up on Rayna. Guess he’s really torn.
Clearly she saw them – not sure what her motivation was, but perhaps some mix of “They’re my fans,” I can do anything I want," “I’m not sure where the limits are,” and your classic cry for help. Whatever it was, I’m pretty sure it will be explored in some depth next week.
I still adore this show mainly because of Hayden Panettiere, but I rolled my eyes for the first time yesterday. Rayna’s getting a little annoying for me. She has a beautiful home, a gorgeous husband and two lovely little girls, but she’s all about, “poor me”. The back story added to Powers Boothe’s character was much welcomed and I agreed with him to an extent that Rayna’s doing just what her mother did-having an (emotional at this point) affair and neglecting her kids (if she goes on tour). With her husband running for office, he’s not going to have time for their girls so who’s going to care for them?? He’s supported her through her career, so like he said in a previous episode, she needs to suck it up and let HIM be a star for a change. Which it sounds like he’s going to be although not in the way he expects: with as fast as he got out of the credit union office when he heard about the audit it looks like we’re in for some fireworks. Looking forward to that. 
Hmm, I dunno. She did see them, yes, but when she glanced at them they were not paying attention to her at all, so she may have thought they hadn’t noticed her. She definitely did not notice that they recognized her and pulled out the phone; at that point she was scanning the aisle in front of her before slipping the item (was it nail polish?) in her bag.
Still watching, but this show has quickly sunk to pure soap opera story lines.
As much as I hate country music, some of the songs in this show have been quite nice - more of an indy label than Grand Ol Opry stuff.
We’ll see how this goes, but if it does turn into General Hospital - Prime Time Edition, we might stop watching.
Funny, I think it pretty much started with pure soap opera story lines. 
I bought “If I didn’t know better” and will likely buy “Fade Into You” (and I liked the little girls’ version cut down version of “Telescope”) - in contrast, I didn’t buy anything from Smash.
It’s a nighttime soap, but it’s a pretty well done nighttime soap. And I can see that they threw everything into these first few episodes to see what works and what doesn’t - but it’s good enough for me to let it have time to figure itself out.
I’d agree with this more if her husband had always wanted to be in politics. As it seems, he had been in banking/real estate/business until his father-in-law (with whom his wife has a very strained relationship) said “Hey, I need to make you my mayoral puppet! <Insert Evil Laugh>” and he kind of agreed because he had nothing better to do that afternoon.
I’ve never bought anything from Smash, either, despite my abiding love for one of the primary songwriters on it (Marc Shaiman). And I’ve never bought anything from Glee. It took Nashville to bring me to the dark side of buying songs from TV shows. :eek: 
I haven’t downloaded any of the songs yet, but I did play “If I Didn’t Know Better” on Youtube for my wife last night.
Then I looked at a video of it being sung by The Civil Wars, and hey! I know her! I used to be in a Bible study with Joy Williams from the Civil Wars. Yay for her.
Are Rayna and Deacon still doing the tour together or not? I was confused by that last conversation between them.
The girls’ version of “Telescope” was the best part of the episode.
I don’t think that’s been resolved.
This may just be my soap opera antenna, but since Rayna’s mother had her affair with a country singer, any chance he could be Rayna’s real dad? Could be where she got her talent from. Like mother like daughter, if so, since Deacon is Maddie’s father.
I’m sorry, Deacon, but 20 years is a long time to carry a torch. Get on with your life and quit giving your talent away to the women in your life.
Yeah, that was my first thought, too, when Tandy said their mother had had an affair – that the lover was Rayna’s father. (Do we know which sister is older?)