The musical soundtrack to ABC's Nashville hasn't worked as well onscreen as it has in previous seasons, perhaps due to more complex narrative lines. That said, on tape,
Season Two, Volume Two may be the best batch of songs and performances that producer
Buddy Miller has assembled yet. Part of the reason may be that the show's actors --
Connie Britton,
Hayden Panettiere,
Clare Bowen,
Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, and
Charles Esten -- have grown much more comfortable with their dual roles as singers and actors. Lennon & Maisy Stella were always dynamite -- check "Believing" and "Joy Parade" (with
Esten), and "A Life That's Good" (with
Britton and
Esten) -- all stand out from the pack because of their deep reflection of country music's folk traditions in thoroughly modern music. Contemporary country is falling all over itself in the 21st century trying to appropriate other musical genres, and there are few places where that happens better than in "Come Find Me" by
Bowen, which uses soul music's arrangement palette woven inside a country melody to excellent effect. Other highlights here include
Panettiere's and Jackson's "Everything I'll Ever Need," with its Cajun music accent -- including a two-step accordion --
Britton's and
Panettiere's neo-traditionalist duet "He Ain't Gonna Change,"
Bowen's moody "Black Roses," a pop song with martial snare drums, and
Panettiere's theme song for this season, "Don't Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet," which is a dead cross between '80s
Bon Jovi and the pop-country of
Sugarland. [A Deluxe Edition added six bonus tracks, including an orchestral version of the aforementioned tune and
Chaley Rose's stellar gospel tune "Carry You."] ~ Thom Jurek