The mysterious Mrs. Eleanor Carter moves to Springville with her two teenage children Jimmy and Cathy. Eleanor makes friends with the town's social leader Mrs. Wellington, who supports her idea for a town youth center, and she is aided by Tom Griffith, the high school principal. At the town's annual picnic, to which Eleanor has bought a band, the town busy-body Eunice reveals what she had learned from Eleanor's past.

During the Rockabilly music era of the 50s & 60s, a musical prodigy comes to terms with the impact his rise to success has on those close to him.