故事发生在1907年的美国,虽然彼时女性已经被允许进入大学教书,但她们的升职道路依然困难重重。莉莉(珍妮·麦克蒂尔 Janet McTeer 饰)是一名十分具有天赋的音乐理论家,虽然她在学术上非常的卓越,但依然一次又一次的失去升职的机会,这让她感到心灰意冷。于是,莉莉决定暂时离开学校,前往阿帕拉奇山区看望姐姐埃娜(简·亚当斯 Jane Adams 饰)。 很快,莉莉就发现,山区里流传的古老的苏格兰和爱尔兰民谣有着非常丰富的文化价值,如果能够将这些民谣带出大山,一定能够让自己重新得到业界的认可。于是,莉莉带着录音设备,开始了她民谣搜集的计划。After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in Appalachia. There she stumbles upon the discovery of her life - a treasure trove of ancient Scots-Irish ballads, songs that have been handed down from generation to generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains. With the goal of securing her promotion, Lily ventures into the most isolated areas of the mountains to collect the songs and finds herself increasingly enchanted - not only by the rugged purity of the music, but also by the raw courage and endurance of the local people as they carve out meaningful lives against the harshest conditions. It is not, however, until she meets Tom - a handsome, hardened war veteran and talented musician - that she's forced to examine her motivations. Is the "Songcatcher," as Tom insists, no better than the men who exploit the people and extort their land?