Cafton Merriepennie is smart, compassionate, loyal, eccentric, and reclusive. He is also the preeminent songwriter in Nashville in the late 1960s. His childhood in a small Alabama town was tumultuous at best, treacherous at worst. When his mama was electrocuted on a honky-tonk stage, fifteen-year-old Cafton was on his own. Due to his grit and wits, he overcomes all odds and lands in Nashville, determined to fulfill his mama's dream of becoming famous. And his plans are successful - until the bodies of three female songwriters who worked in his club are found in his best friend and business partner's hometown, and the police come knocking on Cafton's door in the middle of the night and haul away a beaten and bloodied suspect. The spotlight may have shifted to Cafton and his friend in the murder investigation, but nothing is that simple or easy in the music industry.