In a way, the show was a surreal experience. Music, for me, is a part-time passion. So getting a gig like this at such a reputable venue (which, by the way, usually only books full-time artists who do this stuff for a living) was already a stroke of good fortune. The basic condition was that I draw at least 50 paids at the door on a Tuesday night. For many bands, this would be no problem. For me, I knew it was going to be uphill climb. To make matters more challenging, I’m a thirtysomething guy with a bunch of thirtysomething friends and "fans," many of whom have families, high-pressure jobs and other big-ass responsibilities. I knew it wouldn’t be easy convincing them to come out on a weeknight to see me play and, as it turned out, it wasn’t.

But in the end, I somehow cajoled slightly more than 50 people to pay the $10 cover (I had loose RSVPs from about 100 people, by the way, but many just bailed at the last minute. Plan for that. It always happens). In summary, here’s how a schlub like me was able to meet my quota. In addition to all the usual promo (trying to get press, etc.), here are just highlights of some of the other things I did to promote the show:

Swallow your pride – I emailed and called everybody I knew in order to generate interest. I begged. I pleaded. Once I got through the people I hang out with on a regular basis, I worked my way down to friends I hadn’t seen in years. Then I hit up all my "acquaintances," some of who were probably offended I was contacting them after so much time only because I needed something. I didn’t care. I was on a mission: "Must grovel! Must pack room!" As a bonus, I got to catch up with some old friends. One guy who I hadn’t seen in about five years showed up at the gig. You never know.

Get the music out there. I paid to press 1,000 professional promo CDs in paper sleeves, each with three songs from the album. I put stickers on them with the show date and started handing the discs out to everyone I could (I kept a ready supply in my inside jacket pocket at all times). I went to local rock shows and put them on car windshields in the parking lot. Weeks in advance, I left stacks of promo CDs at a table at Iota’s front door for patrons. I probably distributed at least 500 discs before the show, and while I’m not sure any of this had a huge impact on attendance, it seemed to bring in a few more people. At the very least, there are 500 more people out there exposed to my music (or using shiny new coasters). Maybe they’ll buy a CD at some point or come to a future show.

Anyway, those are just some examples of what one guy can do to promote a CD release show with some elbow grease and shameless begging. But again, I’m just a part-timer. For bands that are trying to do music full-time, the CD release show is more than a self-congratulatory celebration. It’s a vital part of promoting and selling that new album. Putting on a successful show at that level is quite a feat. I only needed 50 stinkin’ people! Some bands are trying to get hundreds!

Nonetheless, the band had a 550-capacity venue to fill—so they got creative. In addition to pre-selling tickets at a healthy discount ($10 instead of $15 at the door) and handing out about 1,000 flyers around town, band members plastered dozens of posters within 10 miles of the venue at any business that would let them, including liquor stores, music stores, pizza parlors, etc. They even gave free tickets to hair stylists and hung posters up at their salons, which was more clever than it might seem on the surface. "The average age of these girls is 20," he says. "Some of them put the posters up on their mirrors. They were telling all their clients about the show. Give out a few free tickets, and you get free advertising."

The band also convinced seven local businesses to pay $150 each in return for naming them on the flyers and even showing "visual commercials" on a big screen behind the stage at the show (in between acts). In the end, the show was a huge success. Transport got more than 500 people in the door and sold about 150 CDs. Penrose still has at least one regret. "If there’s anything I could changed," he says, "I would have been a little more careful about the scheduling." Nonetheless, the band’s hard work and creativity saved the day—despite the lack of radio promotion.

I chose that story to end this little article on for one reason. Promoting a successful CD release show can be a humiliating, pride-swallowing, sweat-drenched plod up a seemingly peakless mountain. It’s enormous work to plan for just one show. But when the big night arrives and you see those people start filing into the venue, all the promo work you did up until that point falls away into history. Now you have one mission left: Get up on stage and play your guts out. Even if you’re in your underwear.