Dave Paulson

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

"Nashville" isn't going away.

For now, however, we can't say that in the most literal sense.

Production company Lionsgate is working to find a new network or digital home for the TV drama, after its former network ABC passed on renewing the show for a fifth season. Nearly 100,000 fans have signed a petition for the show to be saved, and viewers have rallied on social media with the hashtag #BringBackNashville. And the show's cast and crew definitely aren't ready to speak about "Nashville" in the past tense.

But regardless of its future, "Nashville's" legacy will be felt in this city for years to come. The show has been a life-changing experience for hundreds of people who've helped make it over the years. As the show prepared to air its final episode (for now) on Wednesday, we talked to a few of the local residents whose lives are very different today, thanks to "Nashville."

TV's 'Nashville' immortalized us as the 'it city'

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Charles Esten, cast member (“Deacon Claybourne”)

When “Nashville” cast member Charles Esten performed on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time four years ago, he knew exactly what song he needed to sing first: “Act Naturally.”

“Nashville” had premiered just one month before, and Esten — who had spent the past 20 years as a television actor in Los Angeles — knew he hadn’t taken the usual route to make it to the famous Opry stage.

“I had slipped through the side door,” he told The Tennessean.

So that night, with a wink and grin, he sang about being “The biggest fool who ever hit the big time/ and all I gotta do is act naturally.”

On Friday Esten made his 48th Opry appearance — and had a hero’s welcome. To that audience, he’s now as big of a star as anyone else who takes that stage.

Of all of the “Nashville” figures who’ve embraced the real Music City, none has dug in as visibly and vocally as Esten. At the start of the show’s second season, he and his family became full-time residents, and rarely does a week go by without Esten popping up on a local concert bill or charity function.

He’s said that playing fan favorite Deacon Claybourne is “the role of a lifetime,” and it’s helped reconnect him with his first love — making music.

“The best way I've explained it is my whole life I didn't even know I was collecting colored pieces of cardboard, and all of a sudden, when I came to Nashville, I put them all out on the table and I realized they were puzzle pieces. They all snapped together and made this thing that I've been fortunate to do for four years."

In that time, several of the show’s stars relocated to town, including its two biggest stars, Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere.

“I realized it’s sort of a big deal when I realized I’ve basically raised my son there, who’s 5,” Britton recently said on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

“I think he’s just going to ditch me now. Because he’s like, ‘I’m staying in Nashville, these people are cool. I’m learning how to play the drums. See you later.’ ”

Next month, Esten will play the Grand Ole Opry for the 50th time, and he says it’s a thrill that doesn’t get old.

“It might be as sweet now as it's ever been for me," he said. "Because it maybe took a couple of years to fully breathe in that circle.”

As for Nashville’s future, Esten says he has “high hopes.”

“I'm an optimistic guy. But no matter what happens, I'm not going to be saying goodbye to music again. It's so much a part of me."

Kate York (songwriter) and Colin Linden (musical director)

Nashville songwriter Kate York is used to staying behind the scenes. But when she and other local talents wrote tunes for "Nashville," she says the cast and crew treated them "almost as if we were the stars, which was a brand new feeling as a songwriter."

The Nashville resident has written or co-written 17 songs for the show over the past four seasons, including "Nothing in this World...," "Stronger Than Me" and "I Will Fall” — songs that she believes “may have never seen the light of day (otherwise).”

“(The show) did that for a lot of friends of mine, and the songwriting community at large. It has been a huge gift.”

But songs such as York’s have been just as much of a gift for “Nashville.” The show’s music has been the most universally hailed aspect of the show. Critics routinely praise “Nashville” for spotlighting a more nuanced, intelligent and emotional brand of songcraft than what’s often heard in mainstream country. As he’s performed with the “Nashville” stars on the show’s concert tours, musical director Colin Linden has noticed that these songs still appeal to an incredibly broad audience.

“There are a lot of people who just love the TV show and got turned onto the music, and wouldn't normally go to a concert even,” he says. “It's really fascinating where the pool of fans comes from. We have a tendency to separate music that shouldn't necessarily be separated.”

Songs featured on the show are immediately released on iTunes and other digital retailers via Nashville’s Big Machine Records. Collectively, “Nashville” has sold more than 5 million tracks. Earlier this month, Big Machine released the show’s eighth soundtrack album.

Darryl Wilson (key grip)

Darryl Wilson is a Nashville native — an elusive breed these days — but over the past two decades, his passion has taken him "here, there and everywhere."

Wilson is what's known as a "key grip," the member of a film crew who oversees the technicians responsible for lighting, rigs and other equipment on set. And aside from films such as "The Green Mile" and "Hannah Montana: The Movie," he typically had to travel outside of Tennessee to find work. That changed when he joined the "Nashville" crew for the show's second season.

"It's all I've ever dreamed of," he tells The Tennessean. "Being able to do what I love in my own hometown."

He wasn't alone, either. "Nashville" filmed exclusively in Middle Tennessee for around 200 days each year and employed roughly 500 people. By the end of the show's fourth season, all but one member of Wilson's team were local residents.

The intense experience of producing a weekly TV show on a deadline helped many locals hone their skills in TV and film production. Wilson has seen assistants rise through the ranks to become camera operators and dolly grips by the show's fourth season. And some of them, Wilson included, have been part of a new wave of Tennessee-based productions such as CMT's "Still The King" and "Million Dollar Quartet."

"Based on the fact that 'Nashville' has been here and basically put down roots, I believe there is absolutely viability for this city and the state (to bring in productions)."

In four years of production, “Nashville" brought in $45.65 million in incentives, mostly from the state. The state and Metro justified the incentives because they viewed “Nashville” as an hour-long commercial for visiting the city, and its effect on tourism was seen through booming crowds at The Bluebird Cafe and other local sites spotlighted on the show. In March Gov. Bill Haslam proposed a spending plan that includes $8 million for a fifth season of "Nashville," as well as an additional $4.5 million for "Million Dollar Quartet" to film in Memphis.

"Nashville's" final episode on ABC airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Contact Dave Paulson at 615-664-2278 or on Twitter at @ItsDavePaulson.