Tyrone “Pine Top” Purvis (Danny Glover) is a piano player and the owner of Honeydripper Lounge. He is in deep debt to a couple of people and wants to attract local Army base soldiers and cotton pickers to his club. His rival Touissant’s is across the street and is doing a lot better than his place. Tyrone fires his regular singer and lets his sidekick Maceo (Charles S. Dutton) know that he hired the popular electric guitar player called Guitar Sam. It’s a one-night-only gig that would hopefully save Tyrone’s joint. Things get interesting when the train arrives on the day of the show and the famous guitar player is nowhere to be found. Tyrone arranges with the sheriff the release of a kid named Sonny. Sonny claims that he can play the guitar as well as any “Guitar Sam”, so Tyrone passes off the young guitar player as Guitar Sam, just for the one show. Will Sonny save the Honeydripper or is Tyrone’s place shutting its lights after an embarrassment?