Red Stovall (Clint Eastwood) is a Depression-era rascal whose fire-in-the-belly passion comes from the whiskey he slugs and the dream he chases: singing at the Grand Ole Opry. He takes off on a drive from Oklahoma to audition in Nashville with nephew Whit (Clint's son Kyle Eastwood) along to help keep the car on the road and Red on the straight and narrow.