Thanks in part to Music City’s biggest export of late — pint-sized pop-country starlets — Hollywood’s interest in the epicenter of country music seems to have spiked a bit recently. It’s about time. Past Robert Altman’s 1975 opus Nashville, the 1993 River Phoenix vehicle The thing Called Love and (if you count it) Hannah Montana: The Movie, we haven’t seen a lot of major motion pictures about Nashville music shot in Nashville.

For example, Crazy Heart, the country-music drama that just won Jeff Bridges his first Oscar, might sound like a natural fit for Music City. But it wasn’t filmed anywhere on this side of the Mississippi. Instead, it was shot mostly in incentives-rich New Mexico. It beats Vancouver, but still.

It may be, though, that Nashville’s luck is starting to change. First, last fall, came a Nashville-set TV pilot called Tough Trade with a good cast (Lucas Black, Cary Elwes, Sam Shepard), a director with an Oscar-winning foreign film to his credit (Tsotsi’s Gavin Hood) and an impressive offscreen pedigree of Weeds, True Blood and Mad Men veterans.

Now a feature just wrapped that not only makes use of Nashville locations, but also of contributions both onscreen and off by Music City songwriters and performers. And unlike, say, The Thing Called Love — set at an unrecognizably roomy Bluebird Cafe — this one just might have gotten the whole “authenticity” thing right.

Written and directed by Shana Feste, Love Don’t Let Me Down is the story of a troubled country-music superstar (portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow) who wages her comeback on a three-city tour. Tim McGraw co-stars as her manager and husband, and Paltrow’s onscreen backing band features established Nashville players and songwriters including Jim Lauderdale, Doug Frasure, John Deaderick, John Bohlinger, Chris Clark, Amanda Shires, Neal Casal and Bucky Baxter — first-call players whose credits span the Dixie Chicks to Bob Dylan. Even her tour manager is portrayed by a local legend, singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman.

But it’s the young session players and performers involved in the production that really indicate Feste’s intention to get it right. After all, when you’re looking to breathe realism into a story about hard-touring, hard-drinking, hungry young music hopefuls, where better to look than Music Row?

It’s a Thursday night at Skyline recording studio, just off Eighth Avenue, a recording and rehearsal space much like any other in Music City. A few 12-packs of Coors Lite sit nearby, casually offered to visitors. A crop of young studio players has gathered to practice some songs. They’re cruising through a pop-country number called “Words I Couldn’t Say,” no sweat. It sounds like it could be a Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood tune — the sort of sugar-sweet, radio-ready gem these guys could track in a pass or two on any given day.

But they aren’t playing it live. They’re playing along to a track. All the pristinely pre-recorded parts are issuing forth from the P.A. speakers: drums, steel, bass, guitars, keys, a crystalline female lead vocal. The boys are just miming along.

Skylar Wilson barks out chord changes in the Nashville number system. This is his family’s studio, and, though he’s playing drums on these numbers, he seems to know every chord. He’s typically more of a keyboard guy, but like most everyone else in the room, he can get by pretty well on just about anything he picks up.

So why are they playing along to tracks? They’ve been cast as the backing band for two of Love Don’t Let Me Down’s lead characters, and they’re making sure they have all the changes just right for when they film a performance scene in the morning. This song, penned by Greg Becker, Tammi Kidd and Steve Robson, is to be performed by Chiles Stanton, a somewhat Taylor Swiftian up-and-coming singer played by Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester.

As the boys finish running through “Words I Couldn’t Say,” in walks a tall, rugged guy in a baseball cap and a plaid jacket who immediately commands the room. Though 25-year-old Garrett Hedlund isn’t yet a household name, his face is more than vaguely familiar. He’s played supporting roles in Friday Night Lights (alongside Tim McGraw there, as well), Four Brothers, Eragon and Troy. Come December, you and just about everyone you know will recognize him as the lead from Tron Legacy, the highly anticipated sequel to the 1982 cult classic.

Here Hedlund plays Beau Hutton, a Nashville country singer who’s been tapped (along with Meester’s character) to open for superstar Kelly Cantor (Paltrow) on her comeback tour. His backing band also serves as Meester’s in the film. Because she wants Hedlund and his band to have the unforced camaraderie and comfort of dudes who’ve logged long hours together in close quarters, director Feste nudged them into the rehearsal space.

Wilson puts on “Hard Out Here,” one of three “Beau Hutton originals” penned by Texan songwriter Hayes Carll — who, coincidentally enough, bears a slight physical resemblance to Hedlund. (In fact, director Feste later explains that much of the Hutton character’s appearance was modeled after Carll.) “Hard Out Here” is an old-school honky-tonk shuffle in the vein of the two King Georges, Jones and Strait.

e gravelly baritone coming from the speakers, though, is Hedlund’s. He, Meester and Paltrow all performed their own vocals, and Hedlund’s here to make sure his performance is natural in a scene with Wilson & Co.

Neal Casal

Neal Casal

“I thought it would be so cheesy if we had to replace these actors’ voices,” says Feste, who made her debut with last year’s drama The Greatest, starring Susan Sarandon and Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan. “Talk about inauthentic. Who wants to see a musical where the actors are re-voiced? It was incredibly important that all the actors sing, and sing really well, and sing within this world where you could actually buy that they were country-music stars.”

Despite never having sung in a role before, Hedlund passes. His gruff, idiosyncratic timbre is world-weary beyond its years, channeling influences like Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard — which Hedlund cops to immediately. He later explains that Feste accompanied him to a karaoke session at Brass Monkey in Los Angeles’ Koreatown to check out his pipes.

“Because she had to report back and say [that I could sing],” says Hedlund, “I took her out to karaoke. … I think it was so bad, though, at the time.” Apparently it wasn’t quite as rough as Hedlund recalls. After that meeting — along with a reading and a guarantee that he’d be willing to put in the work — Feste was all too happy to cast him.

An earnest, disarmingly enthusiastic filmmaker whose youth manifests mostly as energy, Feste calls her film a “high-stakes love story” set against what she considers to be the purest musical genre for traditional storytelling. Growing up in L.A., she says, she would take long rides to Texas to visit her father. The soundtrack for those rides was usually country music, the soundscape of America’s blue highways.

The world of country music thus seemed a natural fit for the subject she wanted to explore in Love Don’t Let Me Down — the incompatibility of love and fame. As Hedlund puts it, the tagline for the script he was pitched was something along the lines of “a love triangle in the country-music world that takes place on a 10-city tour.” Turns out, it’s more of a love square — or perhaps a love rhombus — with McGraw, Paltrow, Hedlund and Meester each representing a respective corner.

Growing up a country fan, coupled with the opportunity to work with McGraw again, hooked Hedlund on Feste’s script. The only trouble was, he’d never played an instrument. To hone his chops, Hedlund began working with a guitar coach: singer-songwriter, photographer and Ryan Adams sideman Neal Casal.

Casal is at the rehearsal space this Thursday evening as well. He’s making sure Hedlund’s fingering looks natural, not that he needs too much help with that anymore. Hedlund is singing along to his own voice, glancing about the acoustic-tiled rehearsal space at his cohorts.

Cory Younts is on acoustic guitar, Josh Graham plays lead. Across the room, Loney Hutchins is on bass, Ian Fitchuk plays keys and Wilson mans the drums. Between them all, they’ve produced, recorded with and/or played with local country, indie and punk artists including Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, Jimmy Duke and the Riot, Tim Chad and Sherry, The Mattoid, Caitlin Rose, Chelsea Crowell, Natural Child, De Novo Dahl, Bobby Bare Jr., Amy Grant and countless more.

The only player missing from the lineup tonight is the staggeringly versatile Chris Scruggs, who’s gigging out in Gallatin. In the film, Scruggs plays steel. In reality, the former BR549 member and solo performer plays just about every instrument known to man (see “The Duke of Music City,” March 11). He was even featured as the primary entertainment at Love Don’t Let Me Down’s wrap party at Mercy Lounge, channeling the vocal performances of greats like Hank Williams with stunning offhand ease.

The inclusion of Scruggs & Co. in the film came somewhat serendipitously, largely thanks to Nashville native Travis Nicholson. Nicholson, who spends much of his time in L.A. and recently landed a role in Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers, initially auditioned for a role in Love Don’t Let Me Down in addition to seeking a gig as an office P.A. He was given a small role in the film, but also went to meet with Hedlund at the behest of the producers, who hoped he could serve as the star’s assistant and de facto local guide.

“That’s been a nightmare,” jokes Nicholson, with Hedlund flashing a grin bright as the Hollywood 27’s marquee in the seat next to him. “I wouldn’t have taken the job if I’d known the terrible hijinks he would be putting me through in the months to come.”

Hedlund and Nicholson were in fact fast friends. When Feste and veteran music supervisor Randall Poster began looking for locals to cast in Hedlund’s onscreen backing band, they happened to ask Nicholson. “I just had the good fortune of knowing these guys, and I started showing [Poster] pictures from my Facebook,” Nicholson says. “They were casting from my Facebook friends page, basically.”

“I trust [Poster] 100 percent,” explains Feste, “and he was integral in the casting process. We both wanted to create something real. First of all, I fell in love with all the guys’ faces, and they’re musicians. They love music, and you can tell when they play. So much of the time, I didn’t even have to give them direction … and [playing with them] helped Garrett feel like he was in a real band.”

Poster is an incredibly tenured music supervisor — the one with the “most excellent taste in music,” according to Feste — and he’s worked with directors including Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, Harmony Korine, Sam Mendes and countless others. In addition to helping cast the backing bands, Poster also played an enormous role in selecting songwriters and producers for the tunes featured in the film. It’s a list that reads like BMI or SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year nominees, from Liz Rose, Nathan Chapman and Lori McKenna to Frank Liddell, Byron Gallimore and myriad others, with still more contributions by McGraw and the Warren Brothers. Gallimore, Chapman and Liddell also produced the Cantor, Stanton and Hutton tracks, respectively.

Neal Casal

“With this movie it was particularly important to work with the actors and get them to perform, and to make them convincing not only as performers but as star performers,” Poster says. “We wanted [the Beau Hutton character's] backing band to have a little bit more of a clear peerage with Beau, and to reflect a rooted and organic repertoire. Whereas with [the Kelly Cantor character], we wanted to have a band that looked like a frontline band that would be supporting a star artist.”

Skylar Wilson genially equates a film’s production to that of a traveling fair or carnival. Droves of fascinating, creative professionals swarm into town and, with astounding efficiency, use the resources at their disposal to swiftly turn out a product. It’s a whirlwind that draws people in, enthralls them, and leaves as swiftly as it came.

But unlike many country music features of the past, Wilson, Loney Hutchins and the rest of the onscreen performers agree that this one feels true. Hutchins explains that the songs and the characters performing them feel like the real deal — like songs these guys might help create in a session.

If Feste’s organic approach translates onscreen, the realism she hopes to convey will keep her film far from the pitfalls of country music cinema — a chasm of pain with Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton in Rhinestone crumpled at the bottom. Feste and Poster chose a handful of old standards as covers for the film and cast roles intuitively, using the locals as a resource. They used Nashville locations like The Stage on Broadway and Municipal Auditorium for performance scenes.

As for the actors, Hedlund heeded Tim McGraw’s advice to “live and breathe country music” — approaching the role from the perspective of a singer trying to make it in the business, not an actor tackling a role. He and his onscreen backing band even playfully wrote a handful of originals. Feste was so set on extracting natural chemistry from Hedlund and his backing band that Wilson and a couple of his pals ended up with some unforeseen lines in the film — meaning a handful of session players who had never been on film ended up acquiring SAG cards.

Initially, Feste had considered shooting the bulk of the film in Austin. But she says talks with Tim McGraw, combined with the urging of the local film commission and her ensuing love for the city, changed her mind. When she refers to Nashville, she does so affectionately, saying that the energy and talent she found here played a considerable role in growing the story.

Fact is, Nashville audiences, more than most, can tell the visual difference between a D major and an A minor, and they can tell a steel player from an actor. Feste knows that, and so do the folks she used to make her picture. And that’s why she’s hoping it will pass with the locals. If you can get somewhere in Music City, as the Kelly Cantors and Beau Huttons of the world know, everyplace else is a snap.

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By Cindy Watts
The Tennessean

At the end of a long, powder-blue hallway snaked with electrical cords and stacked with a movie camera, actors and a dozen production assistants, Tim McGraw leaned in a corner of a Nashville movie studio and let out a loud yawn.

It was about 8 a.m. on a Saturday, and McGraw had performed in Lexington, Ky., the night before. He flew in specifically to film a single scene for his new movie, Love Don’t Let Me Down, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund. After that was done, he would hop on another plane and fly to Michigan for a show that night.

“It’s busy,” McGraw said, his weary eyes showing the strain. Indeed, as soon as his scene was finished, he left the set.

Writer/director Shana Feste (one of Variety’s “10 directors to watch” in 2009) and veteran producer Jenno Topping (the Charlie’s Angels movies, 28 Days, The Brady Bunch Movie) wanted McGraw in their movie badly enough that they were willing to film it in Nashville. (To help secure his participation, the location had to be within an easy driving distance of his home to accommodate his touring schedule and family obligations.)

Of course, the team didn’t choose to film in Nashville just to make McGraw’s life easier. Filming here helped ensure authenticity in regard to music, musicians and locations. Plus, according to Topping, the state’s film and television incentive program was just too good to pass up.

Fifth star is Nashville

“I always wanted to shoot the movie in Nashville, because the script starts and ends in Nashville,” Feste said between shots. But “it wasn’t until I met with Tim that it started to become a reality, because he got the film commission on board, and they really fought to have the film come here.”

Once the production crew was here, Feste said, Nashville’s film and music community quickly became the fifth star of the movie. Well more than 100 local actors, songwriters, musicians and day players have had a hand in the making of Love Don’t Let Me Down. A host of local songwriters, including Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird, Jennifer Hanson, Mark Nesler, Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Josh Kear, Chris Tompkins and Hillary Scott, have had a hand in writing songs for the movie.

Music producers Nathan Chapman, Frank Liddell and Byron Gallimore produced the songs for each of the artist characters played by Meester, Hedlund and Paltrow. (McGraw does not sing in this movie — he plays Paltrow’s manager husband.) Local musicians Jim Lauderdale, Bucky Baxter, Chris Scruggs and John Bohlinger all appear on screen.

“We’ve gotten to work with all these amazing, wonderful musicians and songwriters that lend so much credibility to this movie,” Feste said. “That really is the coolest feeling, to know there are beautiful songs that exist in this world because of something I wrote.”

Songwriter Marshall Chapman, who makes her acting debut as Paltrow’s tour manager, Winnie, was overwhelmed by the entire experience. “I had never even been in a school play,” she said. “I was stunned, and probably a little gaga.

“Tim’s been a gas — he’s been great to work with,” Chapman added. “And I did a scene with Gwyneth, and I described it as playing tennis with somebody who is really a lot better than you are. It elevates your game. It was the easiest scene I did.

“I could end up on the cutting-room floor in this movie, and I don’t care. … I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid. I’m in.”

Love, fame and music

The movie, a romantic drama, stars Paltrow as a popular yet troubled country singer named Kelly Canter. Canter is in a rehab facility (filmed at Barbara Mandrell’s former home, Fontanel) when she falls for Hedlund’s character, Beau Hutton, an employee at the facility with aspirations of country music stardom. Canter’s husband, James (played by McGraw), checks the still-fragile singer out of the facility to embark on a music tour. Meester’s character, country newcomer Chiles Stanton, is being mentored by James, who wants to book her as the opening act. Kelly, however, wants the spot to go to Hutton. In the end, all three go on tour together.

Canter’s emotional fragility and the developing attractions among the four principals, set against the backdrop of the tour, form the fabric of the movie.

“I think what inspired me was the theme of fame and love, and how I think it’s hard for fame and love to coexist,” Feste said. “And how the public can be so cruel to celebrities who have given them so much.

“We love to build them up just to knock them back down again, and what a difficult life that must be. I wanted to write something within that world. I also love country music and think it is the most romantic setting for a love story, and something that would be really high stakes.”

Feste said she chose the actors based on her perception of who could best execute her complicated, three-dimensional characters. It was also important to her to employ people who could perform their own songs — a nod to the authenticity she tried to achieve throughout the production.

“I think people will be blown away by our actors’ vocal performance,” she said. “I think music lovers will love this movie. We have really put our heart into this soundtrack.

“I could not be more proud of the songs on this movie. I think people who enjoy country music and a good old-fashioned love story will love this.”

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Tim McGraw to welcome fans to Free Event hosted by Storme Warren Featuring Oscar®-Winner Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester, Garrett Hedlund and big country acts–including The Lost Trailers

Nashville-based charity Soles4Souls to collect shoes at event for distribution in Haiti

Nashville, TN (January 20, 2010) –Great American Country TV star Storme Warren will host a concert event on Tuesday, February, 2, 2010 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium when Screen Gems films a climactic scene for the feature film Love Don’t Let Me Down, starring Oscar®-winner Gwyneth Paltrow (Best Actress, Shakespeare in Love, 1998) and Superstar Tim McGraw.

Audience members receive the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appear in a film as well as hear some great music, including live acoustic sets by the band The Lost Trailers (which will open for part of Tim McGraw’s upcoming “Southern Voice” tour).
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wed 13th january

gwyneth paltrow, garrett hedlund (you might remember him from georgia rule. or you might not.) and whole cast of friends and characters were spotted having dinner and drinks at patterson house in nashville, tn, on tuesday evening, january 12.

“there were maybe twenty of them, and she was the only really recognizable one, but we could tell the whole group must have been a fame crew even before we saw her, because they were all wearing fedoras or crazy hair.  they looked like, you know, somebodies.”

paltrow looked relaxed in a loose ponytail and denim jacket.  they enjoyed a meal at a big table in the back, and afterwards mingled in group, laughing a lot.

“they’re very easygoing, and very friendly.  they come here a lot, and a lot of bands, because of the low-key atmosphere, and because there is a list to get in. they know they won’t be bothered.” said a source who works there.

paltrow and two other friends left around 11 pm; the rest of the crew rolled out around 11:30.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Extras are needed for the Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow film “Love Don’t Let Me Down” shooting in Nashville. Paltrow plays a struggling country singer managed by McGraw.
A climactic concert scene is being shot Feb. 2 at Municipal Auditorium, located at 417 Fourth Ave. N. Extras must be at least 18. A free shuttle will take extras from Lot R at LP Field to Municipal Auditorium, where doors open at 4 p.m. Extras should be able to stay until 11 p.m.
Producers want 2,000 to 2,500 extras, who will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
McGraw is unlikely to sing, but he’ll greet the crowd, and The Lost Trailers will play at 4:30 p.m. Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund will perform to pre-recorded tracks.

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Want to be in a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw?

Screen Gems is filming the climactic scene of Love Don’t Let Me Down, a movie that stars Paltrow as an emotionally unstable country singer and McGraw as her manager, on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Municipal Auditorium, 417 Fourth Ave. N.

The film folks are in need of an audience for a scene in which (spoiler alert) Paltrow wows the crowd with a stirring performance.

McGraw won’t likely be singing, but he will greet the crowd. And The Lost Trailers will play a set beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund (who starred with McGraw in 2004’s Friday Night Lights) will also be there, singing to pre-recorded tracks. Great American Country’s Storme Warren will serve as host, and Nashville-based charity Soles4Souls will be collecting shoes for distribution to Haiti.

What else? Well, admission is free. Extras must be at least 18 years of age. There will be a free shuttle from Lot R at LP Field. Doors at Municipal will open at 4 p.m., and extras are expected to be be able to stay until at 11 p.m. Producers are looking for 2,000–2,500 extras, and will admit people on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission Executive Director Perry Gibson announced that production begins this week in Nashville on the Screen Gems feature film Love Don’t Let Me Down.

The $15 million project stars Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, country music superstar Tim McGraw, Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Garrett Hedlund (Friday Night Lights).
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An Academy Award-winning actress and a multi-platinum selling country hunk are teaming up on a project that is bringing an injection of cash to some Nashville-area businesses.

No, it’s not Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw are starring in a $15 million movie that begins production this week in Nashville. The production company, Screen Gems, planned to hire local residents for 75 percent of the film’s crew and 90 percent of its cast (an open casting call was in December). The movie also stars Garrett Hedlund of Friday Night Lights (the movie, not the TV show), and Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl.
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Country star Tim McGraw is still riding pretty high on the success of his latest film, The Blind Side (Variety shows a box office cache of almost $220 million), which teamed him with top leading lady Sandra Bullock. But he’s already moved on to another movie, and another blockbuster leading lady — Love Don’t Let Me Down, with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, which began production this week in Nashville.

Along with McGraw and Paltrow, Love will also feature Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester (who shares McGraw’s musical inclinations — you’ve likely heard her in Cobra Starship’s major hit “Good Girls Go Bad”) and Garrett Hedlund (who joined McGraw in the cast of 2004 football flick Friday Night Lights).

Read more…

According to The Hollywood Reporter, country singer Tim McGraw is slated to star in an upcoming country music-fueled drama, “Love Don’t Let Me Down,” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund. Production will begin early next year in Nashville with Shana Feste directing.

McGraw will play the husband and manager of Paltrow’s fallen country singer character, who embarks on a “career resurrection tour” with Hedlund, who will play “a young rising singer-songwriter.” Also in the romantic entanglement mess is Meester, a “beauty queen-turned-singer.” Emotional hijinks will, no doubt, ensue throughout the course of the movie.

The Reporter also states that Tobey Maguire and Jenno Topping are producing via their Maguire Entertainment banner.

McGraw’s previous movies include “The Blind Side,” in theaters now, as well as “Four Christmases,” “The Kingdom,” “Flicka,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “Black Cloud.”