Though Dwight Yoakam gained notoriety for his neotraditional approach, he has a gift for expanding country's borders in unexpected ways. His back-porch acoustic update of Prince's epic power ballad "Purple Rain", his twangy take on ZZ Top's blues-rock boogie "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" and his two-stepping transformation of The Clash's "Train in Vain" all show his penchant for keeping it rootsy while exploring new avenues.