Trace Adkins will play the role of a bodyguard named "Scared" in a TV pilot shooting this week in Nashville. Titled Tough Trade, the original pilot is the first for EPIX, a new entertainment venture between Viacom, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (a division of Viacom's Paramount Pictures unit) and Lionsgate. The show will revolve around the Tuckers, a three-generation Nashville music dynasty whose penchant for drink, debauchery and divorce has left them on the verge of bankruptcy. The family with little left is pinning its hopes on its former black sheep, a budding country star turned alternative-rock heart throb.
Sam Shepard stars as the patriarch of the Tucker music family and the cast is being rounded out by Lucas Black and Cary Elwes. Shepard will play father to Elwes, both of whose characters are respected country music figures. Black will play Elwes' son, a talented guitarist who's avoiding the family business, choosing instead to sell illegal ammunition.
Music producer, musician and songwriter T Bone Burnett will be the executive music producer for the project. Burnett, whose production credits include Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand album, won five Grammy Awards for his work on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? film soundtrack.
