Rayna Jaymes' (Connie Britton) new artist for Highway 65 in "Nashville" season 4 already has a name.
Markus Kane, the lead vocalist of a widely popular mainstream band, signs a deal with Rayna's record label after he decides to launch his solo career. TVLine exclusively reported that Markus will be played by "True Blue" alum Riley Smith when the country musical drama returns on ABC.
Smith's recurring character will be featured during the entire fourth season of "Nashville." Markus allegedly decides to join Highway 65 after Rayna promises to help him strip down his sound. At first, the new artist and the record label enjoy a harmonious relationship together, but problems begin when Markus realizes that Highway 65 badly needs to make sure that his album succeeds to keep the label afloat. Because of that, the newbie opts to show Rayna who the boss is.
For the fourth season of "Nashville," Rayna must still find a way to handle her new talent's "diva" attitude while making sure that his first solo album will be a hit.
Before being tapped to portray the role of the new Highway 65 artist, Smith previously appeared in the seventh and final season of HBO's original supernatural horror "True Blood" back in 2014. The 37-year-old actor is also featured in HBO's ongoing "True Detective" season 2, as well as the short-lived "The Messengers" series from The CW.
Meanwhile, actress Aubrey Peeples has been promoted as series regular for "Nashville" season 4 after her character Layla Grant also decided to let Highway 65 manage her career.
Aubrey was first introduced in the show's sophomore season as Juliette's (Hayden Panettiere) possible rival and Will's (Luke Wheeler) wife. But things did not work out for Aubrey and her old record label, and her publicized relationship and marriage with Will eventually crumbled after he admitted that he is gay. She is now secretly dating Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson), who is also managing her singing career.
"Nashville" season 4 premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
