The larger umbrella idea strikes me as worthy of
consideration.
I really think it is... Collaboration and crossover is what builds new spaces, imho. I'm currently also working with a few of the abundance of local "rock/etc/band" folks to do remixes, to spread name and sound to folks who currently listen only to whatever they listen to.
Think about looper / dj collaborations—looper /
rawker collabs.
Absolutely. 100 people listen, only 1 or 2 go "hey what a sound". That's a good thing, one step at a time. If you can take bigger steps grand, but make no illusions about immediacy.
Offer to be the "button pusher" for a few rawkers
who seem adventurous. Loop them; mangle them; make it groove;
make it heavy—above all, make some friends!
Yes, I do hope to do more of that over this next year.
-nn