This story, structured like a traditional 12 bar blues song, with three sections each made of four chapters, follows blues musician Lem Taylor's harrowing journey across late 20s Arkansas, hunted for a crime he didn't commit. Lem and his blues companion find a gig in a juke. Their music takes it by storm and a well-connected man offers them a recording session. That night, they go home with two women, and one of the women's lover, a white man who belongs to a powerful bootlegging family, shows up. A triple murder ensues, leaving just Lem and his lover standing.