Itinerant western singer Red Stovall suffers from tuberculosis but has been given an opportunity to make it big at the Grand Ole Opry. He is accompanied by his young nephew Whit to Nashville, Tennessee. After a series of adventures which include the nephew's first sexual encounter in a brothel, he and Red finally arrive at Nashville. A fit of coughing in the middle of his audition at the Grand Ole Opry ruins his chance and his dream. But talent scouts for a record company are impressed enough to arrange a recording session, realizing that he has only days to live. The tuberculosis reaches a critical stage in the middle of this session, where Red's lines are filled in by Smokey, a side guitarist. Red eventually succumbs while Whit vows to tell his uncle's story. Red's vintage Lincoln Model K touring car, prevalent throughout the movie, finally 'dies' at the cemetery where Red is laid to rest.