Since 2001 Railroad Earth has been playing bluegrass plus snatches of rock, folk, and jazz with the same open armed, occasionally long-winded approach that's helped jam bands like Phish and the String Cheese Incident earn throngs of rabid fans.

NPR: Railroad Earth Jams Live on Two-CD 'Elko'

And come night time, head up the stairs beside the Comb Artspace into Neverland Bar, where local indie bands jam to a young, too-cool-for-school crowd.

BBC: In search of Australia��s real Gold Coast

Decades after the dissolution of his bands The Jam and Style Council, Paul Weller remains one of the most influential Britpop acts of the past 30 years.

NPR: Paul Weller: A Britpop Titan Lives On

But if you want to know how Nirvana and Pearl Jam came to be, these six bands -- whose histories are tightly intertwined -- are a good place to start.

CNN: Commentary: The roots of grunge run deep

Reared on acts like David Bowie, The Jam, The Specials and The Smiths, these bands now set about reasserting their roots.

BBC: Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain

Of course, most bands could never in a million years hope for the kind of deal Pearl Jam has laboriously worked out.

NPR: Pearl Jam, Playing A Business Deal By Ear