Chris Carmack of the recently renewed ABC drama Nashville, will make the jump from portraying a rising country singer-songwriter to releasing his own independent EP.

Pieces of You, featuring the single “Being Alone,” is slated for a spring release. The project was produced by Ben Fowler (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Phoenix Mendoza.

Equally as confident in his songwriting abilities as his acting abilities, Carmack is the sole writer on “Being Alone.” “‘Being Alone’ is about a young person’s solitary struggle to discover his own identity while trying to adhere to the stifling plans and expectations of others,” Carmack said. “The entire EP is comprised of songs I wrote when I was in Los Angeles trying to do just that: find my identity in a world that had no shortage of opinions about who I should be.”

Carmack joins several Nashville cast members who have released music outside of the show. Lennon and Maisy Stella, who portray Rayna Jaymes’ daughters Daphne and Maddie, released a live EP in 2012. Jonathan Jackson (Avery Barkley) and his band Enation signed with Loud and Proud Records in 2013. Fellow cast members Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, and Sam Palladio also have new music in the works.

Lucky Nashville fans might get the chance to hear the new single in person, as Carmack is currently on the eight-city Nashville tour, which runs through May 10. Carmack also has upcoming shows in Sioux City and West Des Moines, Iowa, before making his CMA Music Fest debut at the Belk Park Stage on June 13.

Pictured (L-R): Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brantley Gilbert

A decade after Lynyrd Skynyrd made their first appearance on the music series CMT Crossroads (with Montgomery Gentry, 2004), the rockers return to the Franklin, Tenn. stage for a collaboration with Brantley Gilbert on Saturday, June 27 at 9 p.m. CT on CMT.

Gilbert will release Just As I Am Platinum Edition on May 18, which features five unreleased tracks, in addition to a remix of the chart-topping “Bottoms Up” featuring rapper T.I.

On May 17, Gilbert will vie for Top Country Artist and Top Country Album at the Billboard Music Awards, airing live from Las Vegas on ABC at 8/7c. The Georgia native took home the first fan-voted Renegade Award earlier this year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. He will join Kenny Chesney’s The Big Revival Tour for select dates this summer.

CMT Crossroads is produced by Kathryn Russ. John Hamlin, Margaret Comeaux and Bill Flanagan serve as executive producers for CMT.

One aspiring artist will get a shot at performing during this year’s CMA Music Festival, thanks to AT&T U-Verse. The Country Deep Rising Star Contest is offering rising performers a chance to attend the 2015 CMA Music Festival and to perform on the AT&T U-Verse Showcase Stage.

The winner will join a packed lineup that includes appearances from Lauren Alaina, Katie Armiger, Craig Campbell, Amber Carrington, Kristy Lee Cook, Joel Crouse, Jessie James Decker, Travis Denning, Eric Dodd, Cale Dodds, Elizabeth Huett, Savannah Keyes, Ryan Kinder, Love and Theft, Rachele Lynae, Dustin Lynch, MamaDear, Kristen Merlin, Katie Ohh, Angaleena Presley, Rainey Qualley, Ray Scott, Sister C, The Railers, Aaron Watson, and more to be announced.

Interested artists can apply at risingstar.att.com through May 10.

CMA Music Festival’s Fan Fair X has contest opportunities for fans with no musical ambitions, as well.

For many of the artist appearances at Fan Fair X, most signings do not require tickets. Fans can freely join the line formations for autographs and meet-and-greets for non-ticketed artist signings.

Fans can sign up for the ticket drawing for meet and greet sessions, fan experiences including front-row seats at the CMA Close Up Stage, a “Fast Pass” for the CMA booth, tickets to the 2016 CMA Music Festival, and more. Fans can enter to win these experiences at cmafest.com from May 28 (beginning at 10 a.m. CT) through June 1 (ending at 11:59 p.m. CT).

Fans will be prompted to create an account and complete the online entry form by selecting the artist they would like to meet from the list of ticketed meet-and-greet sessions. Only one account per person is permitted and fans can only be selected once.

Once the form is complete, fans are automatically entered into the random ticket drawing for each artist selected. If drawn, the fan will receive two tickets to that session. Winners will be notified by email by Friday, June 5.

AT&T U-verse Fan Fair X is free to all CMA Music Festival LP Field ticket holders. Individual tickets are $10 per day. A $25 for a four-day pass, or $35 four-day pass including one general admission into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for 2015 is available at CMAfest.com.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will open the Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary exhibit on May 22, with the exhibit running through Nov. 8. It will showcase the singer-songwriter’s rise to stardom and also include memorabilia from his childhood.

Festivities during the opening weekend will include a songwriter session featuring Ashley Gorley and Rodney Clawson, and an album cover art program on May 23. The Peach Pickers (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip) will perform on Aug. 1. Bryan’s producer Jeff Stevens will be featured as part of the museum’s Music Masters series on Aug. 8.

Some of the items that will be on display include Bryan’s Little League baseball uniform and glove, his first guitar, handwritten lyrics to his 2014 chart-topping single, “I See You,” stage clothes worn at concerts and awards shows and trophies for his ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year wins.

For more information, visit countrymusichalloffame.org