Don't call it a comeback.

The relaxed and down-home themes of country music and the rural lifestyle associated with it are making a resurgence in popular music and even fashion, but experts say country's been consistent.

"If you look around, people are wearing straw hats and country music itself is making a crossover into the mainstream, with more country musicians hitting the pop charts and going No. 1 more than before," said Dave Allen, owner of The Whiskey Barrel Saloon, 410 S. Clippert St. in Lansing, which opened in June replacing Sparty's Night Club.

The trend has even hit the Lansing area music scene: Allen's new bar is the second all-country bar in the area.

"We were looking for a little bit stronger market than the dance market," Allen said. "The hip-hop scene is fading out. We believe country music is on the upswing and is going to be a big trend, and we wanted to get in on it."

Country music experts said the last time country was considered "trendy" and gained considerable visibility was in the early 1990s, via Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and the song "Achy, Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus, who is also known for his legendary mullet.

"Ten years ago, country was huge, it had a big upswing, and then most of those people got out of the bar scene," Allen said.

The University Activities Board, or UAB, took advantage of the trend and hosted a country-themed night at the International Center in September.

"The country-music, rodeo-themed lifestyle is really big," said Holly Newland, director of communications for UAB. "Obviously there is a market for it, because we had a great turnout."

Newland, a journalism senior and country music fan, said people are discovering how accessible country is.

"The cool factor plays into it, it never used to be cool to listen to country music, but it's becoming way more acceptable to," Newland said. "People outed themselves of the country closets."

The music

Country-pop crossover artists, perhaps most famously Shania Twain and more recently, artists such as Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Kenny Chesney have given the genre more exposure.

Songs like "Redneck Yacht Club" by Craig Morgan and Wilson's "All Jacked Up" are in the top 50 songs on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart, as of Wednesday.

Other genres are becoming less mutually exclusive to country, including hip-hop. Cowboy Troy, a rapping cowboy, describes his music as "hick-hop."

"The one big difference in that attitude is really a tolerance for a lot of different kinds of music, as well as a tolerance for reaching across," said Don Cusic, professor of music business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

The usual listener demographic hits 35-year-olds and up, Cusic said. The trendiness comes in because country's swung back to a younger audience, he said.

Contemporary country music's biggest themes lean toward patriotism, family values or a "have fun" mentality, Cusic said.

"We used to say, 'raisin' hell' and 'cuttin' loose,' the old, 'get drunk, act stupid, fall down,'" he said.

The patriotic themes have been sparked by recent politics, Cusic said, adding a country audience tends to lean toward a Republican, right-wing camp. Patriotic songs such as Toby Keith's "Angry American," or Jackson's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" were inspired by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And as baby boomers get older, more life-philosophy songs emerge, Cusic said, such as Chesney's "Old Blue Chair," where he reminisces about life experiences.

Local venues

There are two places in the Lansing area that specifically cater to those looking to do-si-do: The Whiskey Barrel Saloon and the Cactus Juice Saloon, 3323 N. East St. in Lansing.

The Cactus Juice Saloon is one of the only bars in the Midwest that features live bull riding, owner Terry Ranshaw said.

Amateur bull riders compete to see who can stay on a real-life bull the longest every Saturday night in a large arena behind the Cactus Juice. While the rides are short, the event goes from 9-11 p.m. and draws a significant crowd, Ranshaw said.

The Cactus Juice also features a mechanical bull for those just starting their bull-riding careers, as well as a large area of tables and a good-sized dance floor.

The Whiskey Barrel Saloon features country dance lessons from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and also has a mechanical bull and large dance floor.

Allen said the atmosphere of the new Saloon is a lot different than any nightclub students would usually go into.

"It doesn't have the aggressive nature to it that today's dance music does, it creates a different vibe in the crowd. It's a relaxed, casual, feel-good atmosphere," Allen said.

The lifestyle

"Country chic" has been a fashion influence for a few seasons, but it's especially relevant now, with cowboy boots marketed as fashion must-haves, such as the $40 bronze and silver ones being featured at Charlotte Russe in the Meridian Mall. Straw hats, fringe, shawls, big belt buckles and peasant skirts also count as cowboy gear.

But more than the clothes, it's all about the attitude of the person wearing them.

Israel Ferrett and Will Mullins Jr. said they both earned the holes in the jeans they wore with scuffed cowboy boots and dusty cowboy hats as they sat watching bull riding at The Cactus Juice Saloon. Ferrett is a business owner and works on a small farm, while Mullins is a small farmer and salesman. Both are from Lapeer, which they consider "country."

"It's cool as long as people like country for what it is," said Ferrett, 26. "If they're doing it for a passing fad, that's different. We buy a pair of cowboy boots to ride a horse and work in, not to wear to a club."

Adds Mullins, "It's almost a dis on our heritage."

That proud attitude has come out strong with the emergence of country's "MuzikMafia," which includes country superstars Big & Rich, Wilson and Cowboy Troy.

Cusic said this attitude comes from the commercialization that influences the music industry — especially what goes on the radio.

"The MuzikMafia's more about the music, making a statement and just having fun," Cusic said.

Part of that includes embracing the term "redneck," which is usually thought of as an insult. Wilson did this in her song, "Redneck Woman," which includes the lyrics, "I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip/ 'Cause I'm a redneck woman."

"Part of it is be proud of who you are and part is be an outcast, don't be in the mainstream," Cusic said. "It's cool to be uncool."