The Nashville cast will feature a new face when the show returns in January: Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founder Rhiannon Giddens.

CMT reports that Giddens has been cast in a recurring role for the upcoming season, Nashville's fifth. She will play Hanna Lee "Hallie" Jordan, a social worker with some incredible pipes.

On Twitter, Giddens shared a photo of herself and Charles Esten at a table read for the show, which took place on Thursday (Sept. 1).

"Never did I see this day coming, years ago when I fangirled over @CharlesEsten on Whose Line ...," Giddens writes.

A North Carolina native, Giddens and Dom Flemons co-founded Carolina Chocolate Drops in the mid-2010s. She released her first solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, in 2015 and is currently working on the follow-up project. Eric Church fans may also recognize her voice from his current single, "Kill a Word," on which she provides harmonies.

Season 5 of Nashville will premiere on CMT on Jan. 5. The network picked up the show for a fifth season in early June, following ABC’s cancellation of the TV drama in mid-May, and thanks in part to fan demandNashville will be broadcast and streamed on CMT, and also streamed on Hulu, which currently carries the show’s previous seasons.

Country Stars Who Have Acted in TV Shows and Movies

More From 101.5 KNUE