Ten years ago, you could walk into the cool rock bars in town and sample some of the finest grunge rock this city had to offer. Smells Like Teen Spirit was the top of the pops. Alternative rock was big. The cool kids wore flannel shirts and baggy ripped jeans and even formed "mosh pits" if the mood struck them.
Of course, alternative rock has long since turned into mainstream rock. So when you walk into the coolest rock bars now, you're faced with cool kids sporting cowboy hats, gaudy western shirts and luxuriant sideburns the envy of Neil Young. The guys, too. And they're listening to live music that was once called country before Nashville just about commercialized it to extinction. Welcome to the world of "alternative country," a term players and fans alike seem to dislike as much as people once frowned upon "alternative rock." That's always a good sign.
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