Linthead Stomp

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440 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, appends., notes, bibl., index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-2191-3
Published: December 2014
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-0-8078-8678-6
Published: October 2008
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-8285-1
Published: October 2008

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Awards & distinctions

2010 Wayland D. Hand Prize, American Folklore Society

2009 Award for Excellence: Historical Recorded Sound Research in Country Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections

2009 Belmont Book Award, Belmont University

Contrary to popular belief, the roots of American country music do not lie solely on southern farms or in mountain hollows. Rather, much of this music recorded before World War II emerged from the bustling cities and towns of the Piedmont South. No group contributed more to the commercialization of early country music than southern factory workers. In Linthead Stomp, Patrick Huber explores the origins and development of this music in the Piedmont's mill villages.

Huber offers vivid portraits of a colorful cast of Piedmont millhand musicians, including Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, Dave McCarn, and the Dixon Brothers, and considers the impact that urban living, industrial work, and mass culture had on their lives and music. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including rare 78-rpm recordings and unpublished interviews, Huber reveals how the country music recorded between 1922 and 1942 was just as modern as the jazz music of the same era. Linthead Stomp celebrates the Piedmont millhand fiddlers, guitarists, and banjo pickers who combined the collective memories of the rural countryside with the upheavals of urban-industrial life to create a distinctive American music that spoke to the changing realities of the twentieth-century South.

About the Author

Patrick Huber is professor of history at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the author or editor of five books, including The Hank Williams Reader.
For more information about Patrick Huber, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"A new, canny take on Old, Weird America, this colorful, contrarian book does much to dispel a spate of antediluvian tropes, musical and otherwise."—The Atlantic

"With respect and passion, Huber puts . . . pioneering artists in well-deserved perspective, gracefully illuminating the birth of an American art form."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Well-researched, carefully argued, and beautifully written. . . . An impressive contribution to our understanding that country music was not born in some pristine corner of America, untouched by the winds of change. . . . A splendid account of [country music's] development in the vital crucible of the Piedmont South."—American Historical Review

"A splendid book . . . One of its principle achievements, due to its author's subtle but insistent writing, is to encourage the seeking out of [the performers'] work. Huber provides a very useful discography, rightly flagging up the sterling work done by labels such as Document, County and Bear Family in the dissemination of early country music recordings."—Journal of Popular Music

"Compelling. . . . An excellent first foray into an important but often overlooked chapter in the history of American popular music."—Studies in American Culture

"Huber's reverential and enlightening descriptions of country music's pioneers leave readers yearning for their actual recordings. Fortunately, an appended discography and directory of other early hillbilly musicians direct readers to more foot-stomping tunes.."—Our State