Waco Brothers

For a brief period in the 1980s the seminal British punk band The Mekons became a country band. It only lasted for a few years and the band soon returned to their original, more straightforward punk sound, but front-man Jon Langford apparently hadn't gotten all of the country out of his system. That's why, years later, he founded the Waco Brothers. Originally conceived as a goofy side-project to play for beer at some of his favorite Chicago-area watering holes, the Waco Brothers has since put out a string of well-received albums of its trademark galloping alt-country. Even though the band's legendarily raucous live shows are still mainly confined to Chicago, it has been known to grace the rest of the country with the occasional performance.