A Nashville winter in his car

Jimmie Allen came to Nashville to pursue a career in music. By his own telling in the docuseries Jimmie Allen All In, he arrived in town with 21 dollars and no plan. He settled in a trailer that he rented, and for a time that gave him a place to base himself while he got started. Taste of Country, which previewed the series in January 2018, does not give exact dates for this period or his age.

The arrangement ended when the owner of the trailer decided to sell it. Allen could not afford to buy it, and he could not afford the first month's rent on another place either. He had the option of going back home to Delaware, but he chose to stay in Nashville and live in his car instead. The article describes a winter spent that way. It does not say exactly how many weeks or months it lasted.

The hardship was real. Allen says he went a day or two without food at times. On one occasion a stranger handed him a dollar, and he spent it on a McChicken sandwich that he ate over two days. He tells this story in the fourth episode of the series, titled All I Was Left With Was Hope.

The article says that during this time he devoted himself fully to his career. He worked at a gym and went to songwriter nights around town. At the time of the article, he had signed with Stoney Creek Records, part of the Broken Bow Records family. He later topped the country charts with his debut single, going from a car in Nashville to a place at the top of the format.