There was a big rise in indie bands during the 90s too ... granted there always are many awesome local groups, but some of those eventually went mainstream. I haven't heard of too many groups making that kind of scene these days.
I.e., Phish, Moe, Stringcheese Incident ...
Any of you from the northeast might remember names like God Street Wine, Acoustic Junction, From Good Homes, Granian, Box Set ... they were pretty big locals during the late 90s. Oh, can't forget Guster.
