Nashville stars Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton perform at songwriters festival

Hayden Panettiere and her Nashville co-star Connie Britton took to the stage for the first time in public on Tuesday (02Apr13) to perform tracks from the hit show.

The actresses play country singers in the series, and they came together for a surprise set at the Nashville Songwriters Association International's annual Tin Pan South festival in Tennessee.

Britton had a quick backstage rehearsal with her co-star Charles Esten, who plays her ex-lover on the show, before walking on stage hand-in-hand to perform At The End Of The Day, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

She confessed, "I'm trying really hard not to be scared."

Panettiere was a late arrival to the gig, having earlier wrapped filming for the day on the series.

She joked, "I was bawlin' (sic) all night long", before performing her character Juliette Barnes' song Telescope with songwriter Kate York.