On Hwy-99, 108 miles North of Los Angeles. Country music fans take a shine to Bakersfield, a dour and lacklustre town where legends such as Merle Haggard and Buck Owens first made their names, and where dozens of honkytonks feature the best of the local talent every weekend. Don’t expect the showbiz trimmings of Nashville: Bakersfield country music is earthy and raw, and so are its venues. After a night spent carousing, visit the Kern County & Pioneer Museum (www.kcmuseum.org), an engrossing collection of the town’s historic buildings restored on a 15-acre site, where you will also find the Country Music Museum (http://www.rockabillyhall.com/bakersfield.html) outlining the origins of the ‘Bakers-field Sound’ and the success of its proponents.