Aubrey Peeples relates to Layla on 'Nashville'

Season 3 of ABC's "Nashville" is underway, and Aubrey Peeples is no longer the new kid in class. The actress who plays Layla Grant joined the show at the start of Season 2, and now she gets to welcome a slew of new actors to the cast this season — including Derek Hough.

"They're wonderful," Peeples says of the "Nashville" cast and crew. "We're like a family."

While other additions to the cast have come and gone — Michiel Huisman departed after joining "Game of Thrones" — Peeples has been happy to stick around. She now has her own place in town after living in a hotel last season.

"Like Layla, I think I've discovered a lot about myself here," she says. "So that's made the city very special to me."

Speaking of Layla, Peeples' "Nashville" character is spending the start of Season 3 coming to grips with a shocking admission made by her new husband, Will.

"She finds out a lot about herself this season, grappling with these changes, and I think that will reflect itself in her music," she says. "Anytime you really change as a person, I think your music changes, too, because it's a reflection of who you are. I think people will be really pleasantly surprised with that."

During her downtime in Music City, Peeples has been making her own music. She's a self-described "blues singer" and is starting to perform around town.

"I've just started bringing my music out into the real world, instead of my living room."

Peeples will be seen in several million living rooms on Wednesday: A new episode of "Nashville" airs at 9 p.m. on ABC.