Anyone who has ever played in a bar band knows the drill — load in the equipment, sound check, track down the buzzes and crackles in the system, warm up, rehearsals — and all of the time and commitment it takes to put on a good show.

The challenge that faces all of those road warriors is to find a niche, to develop a sound and the material it takes to break through to the next level. That usually means developing your own songs and putting in a prodigious amount of perseverance, hard work and talent.

Yeah, you still need talent.

Brittany Pool has that, and it looks like that hard work is paying off. The 25-year-old Arkansas transplant has found her footing on the banks of the Bayou Teche, along with several like-minded musicians who are helping the singer-songwriter translate her ideas into reality.

Two years into the life of the band, the five-piece unit has built a solid set of covers and is now branching out, adding original compositions to the lineup.

“We try to hit every genre,” Pool said. “We do some ’50s, some ’60s, pop, rock, country and some originals.”

A graduate of Hot Springs High School in Arkansas (“I went to Bill Clinton’s high school,” Pool said), she made her way to the Teche Area when she was accepted a scholarship to ULL. After two years, though, she chose to take a break and work on her songwriting and performance. 

“Lafayette is an expensive place to live, so I ended up moving to Jeanerette and taking a job here,” she said. “I enjoyed the culture, the community, so I stayed.”

The other draw for her is the emotional release of performing to appreciative audiences along the bayou.

“It’s the only thing that makes me truly happy,” Pool said. “It keeps me alive. I am sustained on the feeling of playing music.”

As for her bandmates — guitarist Thomas Falterman, bassist Chris McGowen, multi-instrumentalist Robert Dumessil and drummer Jaime Segura — they say working with Pool has improved their musical abilities.

“It’s made me better,” Falterman said, with a little prodding from Pool as they joked after a sound check. Though smiling, the honesty of the statement rang true as McGowen and Dumesnil nodded along.

When you watch her perform, you can tell the energy is there. As the band tears through a rock-solid rendition of The BoxTops’ “The Letter,” Pool’s voice cuts through Dumesnil’s keyboards and Falterman’s guitar as McGowen and Segura drive the beat. From sultry to plaintive, she catches every nuance of Alex Chilton’s lyrics.

Putting that emotion, that raw feeling, out there is a gift. Pool said she also loves to see that joy spread through the audience as the band kicks through a set.

“I see the smiles, and I can watch the music bring out feelings of love and community,” she said.

Pool is also finding ways to give back to the other musicians in the region. Her father runs Thrive Publishing, which has a program to give budding singer-songwriters the knowledge they need to create, publish and survive in the ever-changing music industry.

“I want to bring that knowledge back to Louisiana so other artists can gain those skills,” Pool said.

If you know someone in the Teche Area who would be an interesting weekend profile, please submit the name by calling 321-6766 or send an email to news@daily-iberian.com.