Charles "Chip" Esten is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his roles as Deacon Claybourne on CMT's Nashville and as Ward Cameron on Netflix’s Outer Banks.
Charles "Chip" Esten is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his roles as Deacon Claybourne on CMT's Nashville and as Ward Cameron on Netflix’s Outer Banks.
Saturday, Nov 15, 2025 7:30PM
Charles Esten
A longtime storyteller as an artist-songwriter and actor, Charles Esten is popularly known for his roles as “Ward Cameron” on Netflix’s Outer Banks and “Deacon Claybourne” in ABC/CMT’s NASHVILLE. A global entertainer, Esten delivered what Billboard called his signature “loose, rough-cut country,” independent debut album, Love Ain’t Pretty, to much acclaim one year ago. Grammy.com hailed, “the album is the purest representation of his artistry possible." Surpassing 26 MILLION streams to date, he’s a 2018 Guinness World Records title holder for the “Most consecutive weeks to release an original digital single by a music act” after releasing 54 original songs once a week for 54 straight weeks. He’s made over 180 appearances at Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry and performed multiple headline tours in the U.S., Germany, Amsterdam, the U.K., Denmark, and Norway. In addition, Esten serves as the National Honorary Spokesperson for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Light The Night Walk, and is a board member and volunteer for Musicians On Call.