In a few thousand years of recorded history, we went from dwelling in caves and mud huts and tee - pees, not understanding the natural world
around us, or the broader universe, to being able to travel through space, using reason to ferret out the hidden secrets of how the world works, from physics to chemistry to biology, we worked out the tools and rules underpinning it all, mathematics, and now we can
see objects that are almost impossibly small, the very tiniest building blocks of matter, (or at least we can examine them, even if you can't «
see» them because you're using something
other than your eyes and photons to view them) to the very farthest objects, the planets circling
other, distant
stars, that are in their own way, too small to
see from here, like the atoms and parts of atoms themselves, detected indirectly, but indisputably THERE.
The most prominent characters include Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson), a socially conservative, arrogant country music
star; Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin), a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children; Del Reese (Ned Beatty), her lawyer husband and Hamilton's legal representative, who works as the local political organizer for the Tea Party - like Hal Philip Walker Presidential campaign; Opal (Geraldine Chaplin), an insufferably garrulous and pretentious BBC Radio reporter on assignment in Nashville, or so she claims; talented but self - involved sex - addict Tom Frank (Keith Carradine), one - third of a moderately successful folk trio who's anxious to launch a solo career; John Triplette (Michael Murphy), the duplicitous campaign consultant who condescendingly tries to secure top Nashville stars to perform at a nationally - syndicated campaign rally; Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley), the emotionally - fragile, beloved Loretta Lynn - like country star recovering from a burn accident; Barnett (Allen Garfield), Barbara Jean's overwhelmed manager - husband; Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn), whose never - seen ailing wife is on the same hospital ward as Barbara Jean; groupie Martha (Shelley Duvall), Green's niece, ostensibly there to visit her ailing aunt but so personally irresponsible that she instead spends all her time picking up men; Pfc. Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn), who claims his mother saved Barbara Jean's life but who mostly seems obsessed with the country music star; Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a waitress longing for country music fame, despite her vacuous talent; Bill and Mary (Allan F. Nicholls and Cristina Raines), the other two - thirds of Tom's folk act, whose ambition overrides constant personal rancor; Winifred (Barbara Harris), another would - be singer - songwriter, fleeing to Nashville from her working - class husband, Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialo
star; Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin), a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children; Del Reese (Ned Beatty), her lawyer husband and Hamilton's legal representative, who works as the local political organizer for the Tea Party - like Hal Philip Walker Presidential campaign; Opal (Geraldine Chaplin), an insufferably garrulous and pretentious BBC Radio reporter on assignment in Nashville, or so she claims; talented but self - involved sex - addict Tom Frank (Keith Carradine), one - third of a moderately successful folk trio who's anxious to launch a solo career; John Triplette (Michael Murphy), the duplicitous campaign consultant who condescendingly tries to secure top Nashville
stars to perform at a nationally - syndicated campaign rally; Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley), the emotionally - fragile, beloved Loretta Lynn - like country
star recovering from a burn accident; Barnett (Allen Garfield), Barbara Jean's overwhelmed manager - husband; Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn), whose never - seen ailing wife is on the same hospital ward as Barbara Jean; groupie Martha (Shelley Duvall), Green's niece, ostensibly there to visit her ailing aunt but so personally irresponsible that she instead spends all her time picking up men; Pfc. Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn), who claims his mother saved Barbara Jean's life but who mostly seems obsessed with the country music star; Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a waitress longing for country music fame, despite her vacuous talent; Bill and Mary (Allan F. Nicholls and Cristina Raines), the other two - thirds of Tom's folk act, whose ambition overrides constant personal rancor; Winifred (Barbara Harris), another would - be singer - songwriter, fleeing to Nashville from her working - class husband, Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialo
star recovering from a burn accident; Barnett (Allen Garfield), Barbara Jean's overwhelmed manager - husband; Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn), whose never -
seen ailing wife is on the same hospital ward as Barbara Jean; groupie Martha (Shelley Duvall), Green's niece, ostensibly there to visit her ailing aunt but so personally irresponsible that she instead spends all her time picking up men; Pfc. Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn), who claims his mother saved Barbara Jean's life but who mostly seems obsessed with the country music
star; Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a waitress longing for country music fame, despite her vacuous talent; Bill and Mary (Allan F. Nicholls and Cristina Raines), the other two - thirds of Tom's folk act, whose ambition overrides constant personal rancor; Winifred (Barbara Harris), another would - be singer - songwriter, fleeing to Nashville from her working - class husband, Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialo
star; Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a waitress longing for country music fame, despite her vacuous talent; Bill and Mary (Allan F. Nicholls and Cristina Raines), the
other two - thirds of Tom's folk act, whose ambition overrides constant personal rancor; Winifred (Barbara Harris), another would - be singer - songwriter, fleeing to Nashville from her working - class husband,
Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialo
Star (Bert Remsen); Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a loner who rents a room from Mr. Green and carries
around a violin case; Bud Hamilton (Dave Peel), the gentle, loyal son of the abrasive Hamilton; Connie White (Karen Black), a glamorous country
star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialo
star who is a last - minute substitute for Barbara Jean at the Grand Old Opry; Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), a cook at the airport restaurant where Sueleen works as a waitress and who tries unsuccessfully to convince her that she has no talent; and the eccentric Tricycle Man (Jeff Goldblum), who rides
around in a three - wheel motorcycle, occasionally interacting with the
other characters, showing off his amateur magic tricks, but who has no dialogue.