"The Best Book on Country Music"

That's quite a name for an award. And, this year's winner of the Belmond Book Award is Dr. Patrick Huber, associate professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T. He received just that recognition in May.

"Linthead Stomp" takes its title from a 1946 bluegrass instrumental on the Essex label, recorded by the obscure mandolin virtuoso Phebel Wright. “Linthead”—along with “factory trash,” “cotton mill trash,” and the more obscure “ignorant factory set”—has long been used as a derogatory term for textile workers. I have borrowed Wright’s colorful title to serve as the title for this study because it evokes the sense of condescension and disdain with which hillbilly music was once regarded (both in mainstream America and in academe) and at the same time captures the textile mill origins and cultural dynamism of this music.

I finally got my hands on a copy, and can assure you that it's worthy of the hyperbole if you care about the foundations 70+ years ago of what ultimately grew up to become known as "America's music."