Courtesy of Michael Lamont Ken Barnett plays a Yankee soldier caught behind Confederate lines in "Atlanta," a new musical by Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon and "Heroes" star Adrian Pasdar.

Marcus Hummon was successful, but not satisfied.

After several false starts, the singer-songwriter had notched a few hits for other artists, including Tim McGraw's "One of These Days" and "Only Love," sung by Wynonna.

In 1995, Columbia Records released his CD "All in Good Time," and he toured virtually nonstop.

But with a wife and two children at home, Hummon decided to give up his dream of becoming the next James Taylor, and instead focused on his writing.

And that's when it all changed.

He not only has become one of Nashville's top songwriters, but also found a new career as a musical and opera composer.

His latest project, born while he was working with the Dixie Chicks, is "Atlanta," which had its premiere Nov. 20 at the Geffen Playhouse.

"It started seven years ago while washing dishes after a dinner party," Hummon recalled. "I wanted to do a play about the Civil War but didn't have a story. I was talking to Adrian Pasdar, who is the actor (Nathan Petrelli on the NBC show "Heroes"), writer and director, and who is married to Natalie (Maines of the Dixie Chicks). He told me this idea of a Yankee soldier caught behind Confederate lines. He finds these love letters belonging to a dead soldier (one he kills), and develops a relationship to those letters."

The story was expanded to involve a troop of slaves traveling with a Confederate regiment who are forced to perform Shakespeare for a colonel.

Hummon, whose childhood was spent living around the world — Tanzania, Nigeria, the Philippines, Italy and Saudi Arabia — is well-versed in music genres far beyond country, and "Atlanta" is a mixture of what Hummon called roots music.

"There's folk, gospel, soul, but nothing that's purely pop," said Hummon, who also was raised with an appreciation of musical theater. "I hope it's music that connects on a deep level with audiences."

Not wanting to claim Pasdar's story as his own, he reconnected with the actor, and the pair share libretto writing credits.

A short workshop production of "Atlanta" was produced by Nashville's Actors Bridge theater company, which also mounted his first full musical, "American Duet."

Afterward, Hummon and Pasdar met with Randall Arney, the Geffen's artistic director. Arney agreed in principle to direct the show with Pasdar.

"But then the theater went through renovations, and we were going to have to wait three years," Hummon said. "We talked about whether we should go somewhere else, but this is where we wanted to be. If all the other work I've done in the theater has been a learning experience, then working with the Geffen is like being in graduate school. This is the real deal."

Hummon believes the Civil War still resonates with Americans, and not just those living in areas where battles occurred.

"It's this country's greatest conflict and in many ways its most tragic," he said. " Atlanta' is about living in a time of war, but it's first and foremost about love, which is always universal. I love being able to tell a story through theater. It's great to write and sing my own songs, and it's a privilege to write songs for others, but theater allows me to explore anything without restrictions."

Hummon remains a successful songwriter, and now he's one who is satisfied.

— E-mail freelance columnist Jeff Favre at jjfavre@yahoo.com.