Prisoner of Southern Rock is the unlikely story of one Southern boy's rise from near poverty to a respected Southern music historian, specialising in the sub-genre known as Southern Rock. The book traces Smith's journey from his meagre beginnings in upstate South Carolina to his work as a musician and journalist during his college years and his destined founding of the Southern rock magazine Gritz following a near-death experience from a chronic bacterial infection.

The memoir combines stories from his childhood with stories of life on the road, backstage, and onstage with many of the bands he worshipped as idols during his early years. Included are nail-biting tales of his complicated birth and, sometimes, turbulent life including a month-and-a-half stay in the hospital during the summer of 1998 that found him dying on the operating room table-twice.

There are also stories of his friendships including on and offstage experiences with bands such as The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels, Molly Hatchet, and many others. Prisoner of Southern Rock also includes never before seen photographs, quotes from Southern Rock's finest, and an annotated list of the 100 Defining Moments in the History of Southern Rock. These are the life and times of the man known around the world as the ambassador of Southern Rock.