Country at Heart

Duke Sterling and Grady Connor came up through the country music industry together as a partnership. As Duke emerged the superstar, their partnership dissolved on bad terms over a dispute on a songwriting credit that ended up being one of Duke's early hits. Although Connor has been able to keep his name in the business writing what have ended up being album filling songs for other artists, he needs a bona fide hit to keep on the A-list. As such, his manager is able to convince Duke and his manager that the two of them should enter into a one time song writing collaboration, that song for Duke to premier at his upcoming appearance at the Silverado Fall Music Festival. While that agreed to collaboration ends up not coming to pass again due to bad blood, Connor, in needing that hit, offers to write a song which Duke can use or not at his discretion at the festival and as a track on his next album. In Silverado, Connor meets Shayna Judson, on whose father Jeremy Judson's property, White Star Ranch, the festival will be held. Shayna has just returned home after a music career in Nashville never got off the ground, including a recent audition with Duke's manager to be one of his backup singers on his upcoming album and tour. Believing that she has talent, Connor is able to convince Shayna to enter into that songwriting collaboration with him, he feeling he needing a set of fresh eyes, ears and thus perspective. As Shayna may be on the cusp of her own breakthrough with this opportunity and beyond as Duke swoops into town, she may face some choices between that breakthrough, which Duke too can see happening, and her personal friendships, much like those choices Duke and Connor made that led to their estrangement. —Huggo