By Wally Kennedy

Globe Staff Writer

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. - The Snorty Horse Saloon is not your father's road house.

Though you'll hear the music of Bob Wills and other country artists, that's not what this saloon is about. It's about country music with an attitude. It's about the "Red Dirt music" of Texas and Oklahoma.

"You've got to experience it to understand it," said Steve Greene, 30, a Red Dirt fanatic who opened the Snorty Horse last October with the specific purpose of expanding the northern boundary of the regional sound to Southwest Missouri.

"The music is as much a state of mind as it is a sound. It's rowdy, blue-collar rock and part country,'' he said.

Greene has been successful in his venture to bring Red Dirt music to the area. Many of his shows have sold out.

Fans are not reluctant to travel hundreds of miles to see their favorite artists, but most patrons, many of them college students, are coming from Springfield, Joplin and Northwest Arkansas to hear local acts and featured artists do high-energy shows that leave them stompin' their boots for more.

Patty Huffman, an owner of J-Town Sports Bar in Joplin, is one of those fans.

"It's the only place around that you can hear that real Red Dirt country sound," she said. "I think it's going to get very popular in Joplin."

Huffman has invited Greene to J-Town to spin a few tunes for her patrons. The response, she said, has been favorable. Greene said he has picked up some business pointers from her in the process. "Patty Huffman is a great promoter and good businesswoman," he said.

The epicenter of the Red Dirt scene is Stillwater, Okla. The artists who have entertained there, such as Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Randy Crouch, Charlie Robinson and Cross Canadian Ragweed, are appearing at the Snorty Horse and other venues in Fayetteville, Ark., and Oklahoma City, Okla.

"What's weird about the Red Dirt scene is that it is successfully closing the gap between rock and country. The artists who play here think Nashville (Tenn.) sucks. It's a beauty contest," he said. "The people who play here are not happy with Top 40 country. They don't like people telling them how to wear their hair."

After seeing a performance of Jason Boland and the Stragglers at Fayetteville and after an inspiring visit to The Wormy Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City, Greene started his search for a venue to bring the music to Southwest Missouri.

"I wanted to book Boland and the Stragglers in Springfield. That was three years ago. I started making contacts in the music industry and one thing led to another," he said.