A man's life and art are rediscovered during the renovation of a farmhouse in rural Tennessee. Though he seemingly vanished from the earth in the late 1960's, Dillard Quarles, American poet and balladeer, left behind a trunk with some notebooks filled with poems and songs. This cache of verse, along with some old letters and journal entries, reveal one man's attempt to understand the beauty and heartbreak in the world around him. The discovery rekindles long forgotten memories for an eighty-something local historian who shares her fading recollections of Quarles, recounting the tragedy he experienced as well as insights into his unconventional lifestyle.