Exclusive: How Country Music Has Become the “Heartbeat” of ‘Fire Country’

The hottest show on TV is set to the beat of country music. CBS’ Fire Country has been heating up the airwaves for years now. Ahead of its season 3 premiere on Oct. 18, the show leaned into its fans’ excitement with an event in Nashville, Tennessee.

Held over two days at NashHouse Southern Spoon and Saloon, the event gathered fans, up-and-coming country singers, and even a star of the series to celebrate what’s to come on the show, which follows a young convict that seeks redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program.

As for why the Northern California-set series chose Nashville for the event, it all comes down to one simple reason—the city’s music scene.

“The country music scene has really become the heartbeat of Fire Country,” series star Jordan Calloway told American Songwriter at the event. “… To see what [the show has] blown up to now and the impact that [it’s had], even just in the country music world, it’s such a blast.”

At night one of the event, as fans designed their own trucker hats and received faux tattoos, they enjoyed performances from Matt Koziol, Ben Chapman, Madison Kozak, and Alyssa Flaherty.

“I love that Fire Country has embraced country music to the fullest extent and they’re welcoming the Nashville community into this premiere,” Kozak said. “… They’re creating opportunities for newcomers like myself for their music to be heard.”

Flaherty agreed, praising the event for being “a cool way to mix in the show with Nashville.”

Fire Country‘s Country Music Roots

Throughout its run, Fire Country has featured songs by country stars including Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, and Dierks Bentley. It’s not just A-listers that get the attention of the series, though. It’s also become a hotbed for up-and-comers. Landing a song on the series has become a right of passage for Nashville singers.

“They’ve been super great to artists, musicians,” Koziol, whose song, “Here Again,” was featured on season 2, said. “It’s been a big kind of thing in town. People have talked about the show, talked about the music on it.”

Citing shows such as One Tree Hill as an example, Koziol noted that many an artist has been discovered by having their song appear on TV.

“That was the way people heard new music,” he said. “I mean, One Tree Hill was the king of the new artists… All of those shows had songs of artists that people still follow because that was the first way you got introduced to them.”

What Country Music Brings to Fire Country

Chapman, whose song, “Which Way to Go,” will appear in Fire Country‘s season 3 premiere, concurred. He told American Songwriter that featuring up-and-coming artists like himself on the show has the potential to further his career and draw new viewers into Fire Country.

“There’s a lot of real music, and a lot of real songwriters, and a lot of real artists, and I think that pulls new viewers in,” he said.

When those viewers tune in, their emotions are heightened by the music that plays. The tracks “bring out the emotion of any scene,” Flaherty explained.

“Music is the heartbeat in any type of cinema that you’re going to have. It elicits that emotion. The feelings that it causes, it’s huge,” Calloway agreed. “For that to be paired with what we put on screen, what we put on camera… music is going to be that undertone that helps that ship sail.”

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