Groupies who click onto the site can read about band members, send them messages, check tour dates, view photos, order CDs, and listen to snatches of songs from the group's album, Naked Noise. The Web makes some traditional forms of promotion seem obsolete. When some hard-core followers asked about starting a fan club, the band responded with a collective shrug. "We already have a way for people to contact us and order merchandise, so we don't know what they would do," says band member Austin Willacy.

The group's website doesn't cater only to committed fans. "This way people just surfing the Net can listen to our music," says Austin. "It's like music stores that have CD sampling stations so you can listen to music and decide what you want to buy."

The House Jacks also save hundreds of dollars a month in mailing costs a month through their online presence. More than 2,000 fans have registered their email addresses with the band, which needs no stationery or postage to promote its upcoming gigs. "I think most bands underestimate the importance of maintaining a mailing list," says Austin. "The way to impress club owners is to have people show up who want to see your band. And the best way to have that happen is to keep in contact with your fans through email." That's particularly true for the twentysomething audience that makes up most of the House Jacks' following. "People's postal addresses are constantly in flux. They go to college, go home, move in with a girlfriend or boyfriend. But people keep their email addresses for years."