Why do so many people in the north fly confederate flags and wear cowboy hats?

My best friend and I are from the same city in the north. We grew up in the same neighborhood and had the same basic life experiences. Our family history is similar. I was never really interested in the South, ect. and yet he got a wild hair in high school and started wearing cowboy boots and was into the whole country thing. Very strange. He is a pretty normal yankee nowadays.