Jackson’s country is still enjoying a honeymoon period

American-born actor, musican and his wife share a love of Ireland and he can’t wait to return

As we’ve seen this week with the out-pouring of grief following the death of Big Tom, country music has always been a popular with the older generation in Ireland.

But over the last few years we’ve seen attitudes changing thanks to the likes of Taylor Swift, the Country to Country music festival and TV show Nashville.

One of the stars of the musical drama, Jonathan Jackson – who plays the talented and loveable Avery Barkley – is not surprised by this.

He told The Beat: “I think that there’s something unique about the show in that the audience is able to see into the soul of the character through music. It’s a really beautiful and unique element to the whole thing.

“And if you wanted to go even deeper, I’ve always been fascinated with the connection between Celtic music and country music. It all comes from there [Ireland] anyway so on some level there’s a connection even musically.”

Unfortunately for fans, all good things must come to an end and producers have confirmed the current season will be the last.

There’s no rest for the stars of the show though, as once their final scenes are filmed they’ll jet off for a ‘farewell’ tour of Europe, culminating with shows in Dublin and Belfast on April 23 and 24.

Looking ahead to the gigs, the 35-year-old said: “It’s definitely a bittersweet thing. In some ways we feel like it’s time for a new chapter but at the same time this has

been six years of our lives.

“I think that it’s actually going to be kind of cathartic for us all with the show coming to an end. In some ways it really isn’t coming to an end because the tour is really the send off for us so I think we’re all looking forward to that. We’re probably going to have to all watch our emotions on stage.”

The show is unique in that all of the actors are also musicians.

Talking about the difference between the two, he said: “It’s tough filming nine and a half months of the year, the filming process is very different than performing live. Performing live is like this immediate joy and response and connection you get with the audience whereas with filming you do take after take after take for 13 hours a day and then you don’t really get to see the final product until months later.”

The cast (below) are no strangers to Ireland as this marks the third time in three years they will have performed here on the everpopular Nashville Tour.

Looking back to the last show in Dublin’s 3Arena in June 2017, Jonathan said there was a clear stand out moment for him.

He recalled: “My wife was in the audience I got to dedicate Unchained Melody to her and it happened to be our anniversary within a few days of that performance, that was an exciting moment for me.”

Jonathan said Ireland holds a special place in his heart and he plans to travel the country with his family once the tour ends.

He said: “The first time that I came to Ireland in 1999 I stayed in Dublin and I was there for two and a half months. I was shooting a film called On The Edge, John Carney directed it. It was in some ways a dream come true for me to be there because I have always had this deep, deep love for Ireland ever since I was very young.

“My favourite films growing up were In The Name Of The Father, My Left Foot, The Boxer. I’m a huge Jim Sheridan fan and musically as well I grew up loving U2, Sinead O’connor and The Cranberries.

“Everything Irish just spoke to me for some reason and being there was really amazing.

“When I got married we came back to Dublin for our honeymoon and that was wonderful. Dublin is just such an incredible city and the feeling there is amazing, the people are so kind and I just love the history that’s in Ireland as well. My family is coming over again this year and we are going to spend some extra time in Ireland after the tour is over for good. Just take some time to really see the country which I’m excited about.”

Outside of his acting commitments, Jonathan also fronts a band called Enation alongside his brother Richard Lee Jackson and pal Daniel Sweatt. Their music differs slightly from what fans might expect of his character.

Talking about his influences he said: “A lot of our musical and my musical influences in terms of songwriting and everything kind of come from that part of the world [Uk/ireland] actually.

“Peter Gabriel is a huge influence as is U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, Simple Minds, Radiohead.”

Talking about what fans can expect from the upcoming shows, Jonathan said: “We’re working on the setlist now. We’re wanting to have some surprises and new stuff in there so we’re working to have a combination of some familiar songs that the fans love but also finding those unique moments to keep it fresh and new, so I think there will be a little bit of both.”

And Irish fans can expect to see Jonathan soon after the Nashville tour.

He promised: “We’re trying to plan an Irish show with Enation for the fall so yeah, we just finished recording a new album and we’re very much looking forward to coming to Ireland.”

the Nashville Farewell Tour stops in Dublin on April 23 and Belfast on April 24. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster.