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Before he starred in the epic Western drama Yellowstone, Luke Grimes filmed a TV pilot in Nashville, Tennessee.
Grimes, 42, spoke about the pilot with Joseph Hudak, Deputy Editor and Head of Country at Rolling Stone, on the latest episode of the Nashville Now podcast. During their conversation, Grimes said it was around 2011 or 2012 that he filmed the pilot for Outlaw Country in Nashville; however, “they never ordered up any more episodes.” Grimes said producer John Linson, known for Sons of Anarchy and Yellowstone, hired him for the pilot.
“He had this idea about a sort of singer-songwriter, Townes Van Zandt-type, Blaze Foley-type guy who was also, like, the way he made money was criminal activity,” Grimes reflected. “He was in a gang. That’s why it was called Outlaw Country.” He went on to share that “they let me write and record the songs for it.” It was the first time Grimes said he “wrote a song that I cut or was for anything.” Throughout the Nashville Now episode, Grimes and Hudak talk about:
“Fans of gritty TV dramas know Luke Grimes from his role as Kayce Dutton on Yellowstone and now CBS’s Marshals, which airs its Season 1 finale on May 24th. But Grimes is every bit the country singer and songwriter as he is accomplished actor. In this freewheeling episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, the Ohio native turned Montana resident shares what went into his new album Red Bird, how he made the successful transition to all-around artist, and why he said yes to reviving the role of Kayce on CBS’s latest hit. It’s a Nashville-meets-Hollywood conversation, only on Nashville Now.”
Grimes stars in the new CBS series Marshals, which premiered earlier this year. He reprises his role as Kayce Dutton from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, which aired from 2018 to 2024. Marshals follows ex-Navy SEAL Dutton as he “leaves the Yellowstone ranch to work with an elite U.S. Marshals team.” The new Sheridan-created series also stars Logan Marshall-Green, Arielle Kebbel and others, plus country star Riley Green in his acting debut. The first season’s finale airs on Sunday (May 24).
Marshals airs on Sundays from 8 to 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. It’s also available live and on-demand on Paramount+ for premium subscribers, and on-demand for Paramount+ subscribers the day after the episode airs, according to CBS.
Find Grimes’ full interview on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast here.