Music of Nashville: Season 2, Vol. 2

Photographer: Bob D'Amico.The music in ABC's musical television series Nashville hasn't worked as well onscreen in season two as it has in its previous season, which is perhaps due to more complex narrative lines. But that's the bad news. The good news is that the actual soiundtrack for 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. Lennon and Maisy Stella were always dynamite -- check "Believing" and "Joy Parade" (with Esten), and "A Life That's Good" (with Britton and Esten) here -- all tracks stand out from the pack because of the deep reflection of country music's folk traditions inside thoroughly modern music. Contemporary country is falling all over itself trying to appropriate other musical gen