Carmack who recently released his first single "Being Alone" will debut his first EP Pieces of You on Dec. 11. Unlike the songs fans hear week to week on Nashville, this project reflects Carmack's personal inspirations from blues, jazz and funk to folk and country music.

"All of those elements exist in all of these songs, but some are more highlighted than others," he tells Rolling Stone Country. "There's some hard-hitting blues electric guitar and I've got some mellow acoustic guitar. I play guitar on every track and I sing on every track."

Carmack isn't the only Nashville cast member pursuing a music career, but that doesn't mean they're competitors.

"I think because we're all in the same boat, we're very supportive of one another," he says. "If somebody's playing in town -- if somebody's playing the Opry -- we go and support each other. Sometimes there's so much going on you don't hear about it. I'll hear that Chip [Esten, who plays Deacon Claybourne] played the Opry and I'll be like, 'Why didn't you tell me? I would have come.'"