Mariah Carey films scenes around Tenn.

Mariah Carey turned some heads in Nashville while filming scenes for the upcoming movie "Tennessee."

The R&B diva is playing an aspiring country signer who flees her controlling husband in New Mexico by moving to Nashville with two brothers.

Last week, she sang at the downtown honky-tonk Second Fiddle. She co-wrote "Right To Dream" with Willie Nelson and performed it with Nelson's harmonica player, Mickey Raphael.

"People were weeping on the crew when she sang it," director Aaron Woodley told The Tennessean. "It's very moving, especially in the context of the film and her character."

Earlier, they shot on location in Dunlap, about 20 miles north of Chattanooga, and at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville. Later they filmed some train scenes on trips between Nashville and Lebanon.

"There I am, sitting on the edge of a boxcar with Mariah Carey, breezing through town," Woodley said. "We slowed down to go over a bridge, and there were people sitting in cars. I think they did a double-take: 'I swear I just saw Mariah Carey on a boxcar.'"