When you think of Detroit, the first thing that comes to mind is probably cars -- you know, with the whole "Motor City" nickname and city's legacy regarding American automobiles.
Yet, to go along with all those cars, the city has a lot of garages, garages where a lot of people might keep a guitar or two handy. How else can one explain the Motor City's incredible number of garage rock bands?
When it comes to music, most people probably can name two prominent figures from the area: Kid Rock and Eminem. These two are -- by far -- the most public current stars hailing from the region. And, of course, let us not forget Ted Nugent.
What some people might not realize is that, aside from its contribution to the vehicle industry, Detroit has given us some of the most influential garage rock bands to ever pick up the six string.
Detroit may have been the ground zero for the beginning of American garage rock, with two titans of the scene, the MC5 and the Stooges, both blasting out of the Motor City in the late '60s.
Through the next 30 years, Detroit birthed some of the most intense and influential garage bands in history, and in the process became a garage rock mecca, like Seattle was to grunge.
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The White Stripes and the Dirtbombs were pivotal in helping garage re-emerge on the music landscape, and with their garage rock roots and no-frills attitude, Detroit was the perfect environment for the bands to flourish and gain traction.
No matter what happens to the auto industry, Detroit has always had one export in high demand: rock. Check out this video:
