Often I am asked, “Jeff, what exactly is alt.country?” My pal Jim always cringes at such questions. The way he primarily categorizes music is “Good music” and “Bad music”. But, for those who are interested in the genre (or at least get in the neighborhood), you should check out http://www.nodepression.net. No Depression is a magazine that follows alt.country. For a taste of the artists they typically feature and a glimpse at the articles from past issues, check out http://www.nodepression.net/archive.
Here’s another page with a pretty good description, some links, and a short list of artists.