By the late '80s, the substance-over-style ethos of the roots-rock movement had seeped into the mainstream, and American pop groups were looking to the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band for inspiration. Early shots were fired by trad-rock one-hit-wonders Georgia Satellites and the Atlanta-based Black Crowes, who borrowed liberally from the Rolling Stones and the Faces. Soon, though, a full-scale rock revival was taking place with San Francisco's Counting Crows and New York City's the Wallflowers charting national hits. Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, and Joan Osbourne represented the ladies. More recently, a new generation of Dead-inspired acts began taking their extended solos to the masses, including Phish, the Dave Matthews Band, and their jam-band ilk, all of them keeping the freak flag flying.

Notable Artists: Cracker, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Blues Traveller