A new series on the network ABC will see actresses Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton go South in new country music-themed show 'Nashville'. For Panettiere, the show marks something of the fulfilment of an ambition she's wanted to achieve for a while: singing country music. The one-time teen Disney star released several singles when she was younger, in support of films she appeared in for the studios as well as an album, though it was never released.

"I said if I was ever going to do it again, I would do country music, but I knew that people would find the disconnect there between me being from New York and not from the South," the actress said to USA Today. Being able to do as an actor though made 'Nashville' "the perfect scenario" for her. Britton's path to the show has been somewhat different though; she'd initially planned to take some time off and pursue her own projects, and she'd not sung in years - "I'm talking about back in the dark ages when I was doing, like, off-off-Broadway and regional theatre" - but she was pulled round by the program's creator Callie Khouri.

She also has her newly adopted son Yoby to thank. "I have to say, stupidly, that's probably why I thought, 'Oh I can pull this off,'" Britton commented. "Once he came into my life, I found that I'd sing to him all the time. I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I can sing.' But it's really the equivalent of singing in the shower."