Whistle and Midchuck, good points well made. I find it interesting to trace the paths of the two young upstarts who shook up the Country Scene back in the early 80s with their first albums...Steve Earl and Dwight Yoakam. Both exhibited much of the throw-back roots spirit that I like in Country. Dwight was a definite disciple of Hank and Merle, and he put a duet with KD Lang on Gram Parsons' Sin City on that first one just to give notice as to some of his influences. Steve had a more esoteric background, and you could hear strains of Townes Van Zandt, Duane Eddy, Earl Monroe, and even Springsteen in his stuff. Both hit hard and early, but from that point their paths diverged. Dwight has become the example of what Nashville finds acceptably rebellious, and he's in the regular rotation on the CMT video playlist. He has also drifted further into what I call "Vogue-cover Country"...slick video, glam models, and Dwight in his trademark tight jeans, cowboy boots and ten-gallon pulled low over his eyes. In other words, Dwight seems to have bought into the image and marketing aspect of the music. Steve, on the other hand, has followed his own path, has shown complete disdain for Nashville, and his image is basically that of an ex-druggy Biker with a bad attitude, which is not at all what the Country Marketing Machine is looking for. They prefer their bad boys in the clean-cut and easily digestible mode, like Dwight and Travis Tritt.