A new Cirque du Soleil show, Songblazers: A Journey Into Country Music, just opened at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center on July 2. The production, which runs at the venue through July 28, is written and directed by Amy Tinkham. Universal Music Group Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe recently told Billboard that the show is “a love letter to country music.” Songblazers tells the story of two aspiring country musicians, with UMG Nashville providing the soundtrack to the production through the label’s prodigious catalog of country music, with roughly 30 songs used throughout the show.

“I am sitting on this incredible catalog and watching how the storyline unfolds through the different eras and landscapes of country music,” Mabe says. Sam Williams, the son of Hank Williams Jr. and grandson of the legendary Hank Williams Sr., co-wrote the original song, “Carnival Heart,” for Songblazers, the only full song that was written specifically for the show. (Billboard)