Dwight Yoakam had a plaintive, yodel-edged voice and a determination to make hardcore, traditional country music. So he did the obvious thing and went to Nashville, where the industry practically laughed him out of town. Instead of playing the game, he moved to Los Angeles and started performing his acoustic country for hardcore punk crowds.

It should not have worked, but it made him one of the biggest multi-platinum country stars of the 1980s and 90s. This episode explores how Yoakam threw out the rulebook, found his audience in an unlikely scene, and proved that staying true to traditional country, far from Music Row, could be the smartest move of all.

• The traditional sound Nashville rejected
• Why he moved to Los Angeles instead
• Winning over LA's punk and roots-rock crowds
• Becoming a multi-platinum star o ...