• Alt-country coalesced around rock musicians, especially punk musicians, who adopted country music as a source of roots for themselves, and was partly a product of new technologies for making, disseminating, and discussing music


• Alt-country became a descriptor of the musical space apart from mainstream country music that included artists from different backgrounds, with different musical styles and philosophical outlooks.


• Mainstream country music existed in a symbiotic relationship with alternative styles and scenes.


• At the same time, the waning country-pop style gave way to a roots revival that was bubbling up in mainstream country, propelled by O Brother, Where Art Thou?