“Three’s A Crowd” is a very appropriate title for this week’s “Nashville.” In Season 4, episode 9, Markus (Riley Smith) and Rayna (Connie Britton) brought Deacon (Charles Esten) into the studio with them. Of course, that didn’t go smoothly. The new artist created some tension for the couple.

The Dream Team: Markus wants to take a song off his album, which drops next week. Rayna has to spend all day in the studio, so Deacon visits her a few hours later. After Markus meets him, he wants to write together. Deacon seems reluctant, but he agrees.

Markus is very complimentary towards Deacon. At the end of their first session, Deacon admits that he enjoys working with the new guy. The next day, Markus changes Deacon’s lyrics. Once Rayna says they can keep it, Deacon leaves.

When Rayna gets home, Deacon claims that Markus only wants to sleep with Rayna. He gets angry and wants her to tell the younger musician that she’s taken. Rayna goes over to Markus’ home to clarify that nothing is going on between them. Markus says they’re cool and he understands.

Rayna tells Deacon that Markus knows that they’re together for the long haul. “I’ve loved you my whole life, and there’s no one that’ll come between us,” Rayna says.

The Exes’ Day Off: While Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Erin (Scout Taylor-Compton) play games on the tour bus, Scarlett (Clare Bowen) writes music. She tells Gunnar that she has actually written seven songs in her downtime.

One of their concert venues has a fire, and they have to cancel a show. It gives them a day off, so Scarlett goes home to see her boyfriend. Caleb (Nick Jandl) doesn’t see thrilled about her surprise visit, and he is actually busy with work. Once he is finally free for a couple hours, Scarlett wants to go to the airport. This spontaneous idea didn’t really work out and just caused more tension for her and Caleb.

Meanwhile, Gunnar goes crazy trying to write songs. Erin finally takes him to a museum and tells him to grope a statue. They run away from museum security, but it’s a fun distraction. Gunnar admits that he can’t write because he doesn’t want to write about Scarlett anymore. He finally plays an upbeat tune for Erin just as Scarlett returns.

Maddie’s Mean Streak: Rayna and Deacon’s studio time meant no one was around to watch the girls. Maddie (Lennon Stella) insults her sister’s outfit for an upcoming photo shoot. She tells Daphne (Maisy Stella) that she looks immature. Maddie wants them to be serious artists. When Daphne dresses up like Maddie, her big sister laughs at her.

Daphne returns Maddie’s clothing and apologizes for being “a stupid 12-year-old kid.” Maddie finally realizes how mean she has been. She assures her sister that she loves performing together, and reminds Daphne that they shouldn’t change for each other or anyone else.

Father-Son Bonding: Maddie notices that something is wrong with Colt (Keean Johnson), but he won’t tell her about his problems with his dad. Luke (Will Chase) is still concerned about his son and wants to spend some time with him. Luke tells Colt that they’re spending the weekend together.

The boys are fishing when Gabriella (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams) brings a photographer to them. Luke completely forgot that he had a Forbes photo shoot today. After being forced into a photo session, Colt mouths off in front of the photographer and embarrasses Luke. Once they’re alone, Luke yells at him and demands some respect. Colt says he has no respect for his father, and Luke draws back a fist, as if he is about to hit his son.

“Do it!” Colt yells. “‘Cause you can’t hurt me anymore than you already have.” Luke doesn’t hit him though.

Luke tells Gabriella that they have to put off his business ventures for a while, maybe even six months. However, he won’t get that much time with his son. Colt wants to live with his grandfather.

Will’s Dilemma: Will (Chris Carmack) gets a publishing deal, and Wade (Josh Cox) wants a song. However, he’s the same singer that refused to take a picture with him at an event after Will came out. Wade and Will meet, and Will confronts him. Wade says that too many people disagree with Will’s sexuality. It’s bad for publicity if they're seen together, but he personally has no problem with Will being gay … or so he says.

Will does some research and finds that Wade actually is incredibly anti-gay. He campaigned against gay marriage and actively speaks out against the LGBT community. However, at the end of the day, Will finally calls Wade and says he is looking forward to working together.

Avery’s Bills: Avery (Jonathan Jackson) needs work. He admits to Emily (Kourtney Hansen) that he can’t pay his bills, and she offers to go into Juliette’s (Hayden Panettiere) accounts or lend him money herself. Still, Avery is determined to provide for his daughter on his own.

He also wants to fulfill his passion. He tries to get back into playing music and finally books a very short set early in the night. Unfortunately, once Avery gets a radio gig that pays decently, he has to back out of the show.

While Emily is watching Avery’s daughter, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) texts her from rehab and asks to talk. She doesn’t mention the message to Avery, and she finally gets a call from Juliette at the end of the episode. However, viewers will have to wait until next week to see what she said.

“Nashville” Season 4 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

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