Student bands are doing whatever they can to pave their own paths in the Baton Rouge music scene.Even with the support of the local, interested venues, musicians still struggle to get their names out and get their bands moving in the University area. From the better-known recent Battle of the Bands winner Prom Date to the brand new group Lucky Walk, these kids know what it’s like to deal with the difficulties of breaking into the music world. “The problem with playing at venues when you’re first starting out is that they want to know what you’re like live,” said Nick Boudreau, computer engineering senior and bassist of indie-rock band Prom Date. “And if you’re just starting out, you don’t have experience or word of mouth, and it gets really difficult.”
Student musicians should play every free opportunity they can find to get the ball rolling, according to Boudreau.”You can get free benefit shows — not at bars or clubs or anything like that — and then it’s like a word of mouth and people-you-know kind of thing,” he said. “A good recording helps, but that comes along with plenty of experience. So, it’s really a catch-22.”Prom Date now plays at most venues around town, including The Spanish Moon, Chelsea’s, North Gate Tavern and The Office. The opportunity to play at Groovin’ on the Grounds last semester helped establish the band in the Baton Rouge area.Jacques Boudreaux, civil engineering graduate student and drummer for These Children, said he plays with multiple bands around town. “We’ve got an incestuous scene here. Everybody plays with everybody,” he said. “One member can play with five bands.”
Booking shows is a “really sporadic” process, Boudreaux said. Although the local music scene is on the rise, “Baton Rouge could do more with what it’s got,” he said.There are incredibly talented musicians in Baton Rouge, and there are definitely some underrated musicians who should have the opportunity to play more, Boudreaux said.
“I think Baton Rouge has the potential to do a lot; it just can’t get to where I think it should be. It’s a very big city, but there’s a small selection of places and open minds,” he said. “It could be better.”
Christian Guillory and Anne Leonards of the newborn folk group Lucky Walk are just beginning to test the waters of the Baton Rouge music scene. 
“We haven’t tried [to book our own shows at venues] yet because we’re so fresh, but we’re optimistic,” Leonards said.
It’s a “nerve-wracking” experience to put your music on the table at a venue for the first time and hope that people will like it, according to Leonards.”We’ve been looking at open-mike nights around town at venues like North Gate Tavern just to get a feel for playing in front of crowds outside of house shows,” said Leonards. “But we’ve got a small set together, and we’re ready to put ourselves out there.”Guillory said he doesn’t expect it to be easy for Lucky Walk to get its name out to the Baton Rouge community.
“I’m nervous because I’m not entirely sure what kind of response two inexperienced musicians will get,” he said. “We’re just gonna try and do our own thing and hope people like it.”There’s always something going on in the “relatively cool place we live in,” and there’s a little something for everybody in Baton Rouge, said Guillory.
“There are open mike nights all over the place, and we’re about to get ourselves started,” he said. “It’s exciting. Actually, it’s more than exciting. It’s awesome.”For an out-of-town band, coming in to Baton Rouge and booking shows can prove a very big challenge, according to Diego Martin, University of Louisiana-Lafayette senior and lead singer and guitarist of blues/folk/rock ‘n’ roll band 80 Proof.
“It’s been difficult. I’ve realized that a lot of venues both in Lafayette and in Baton Rouge are more focused on business than on the music itself,” said Martin. “They want to book good bands, but they put more emphasis on making money at the door and on drinks. If you have a pretty good band who will bring lots of people in, they’ll get booked before an amazing band because it’s a business.”
It’s not easy for out-of-town bands like Lafayette’s 80 Proof to book shows when a member has to drive to convince the venues in person, according to Martin.”I guess if we had a booking agent, it would be easier, but for a band that’s coming up like us who can’t afford that, we just have to do it all ourselves,” said Martin.
 
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Contact Cathryn Core at [email protected]