There something called "Low-Fi" in rock music, which is a move away from the studio sounds, and back to the sound of what a band sounds like when you just record what they play--it happens mostly on "indie" labels. It is centered around college radio, and it's getting to be a big thing.   

There certainly are a lot of folks out there doing this kind of thing with country music, but there isn't a real network for "alternative country music" that correspond to college radio. I think there's potential for it, though, with internet and satellite radio--the audience for it is certainly there--nobodies figured out how to reach it--