New York ? Folk singer David Grossman’s lifestyle and the term “rock star” aren’t typically uttered in the same sentence.

Though the 36-year-old musician from Arizona plays hundreds of gigs a year, most are in small bars and coffee shops he once even played to “a few barbers and their customers” in a hair salon.

Folk singer David Grossman practices his guitar in his back yard, which is located in the desert area north of Phoenix. Grossman is one of thousands of musicians exited about the return of Garageband.com, an Internet site that showcases up-and-coming acts through free downloads.

So it’s no surprise Grossman differs radically on free music downloads from the Metallicas and Dr. Dres of the world, who have fought it in and out of court as sales-damaging copyright infringement.

Grossman is one of thousands of musicians cheering the return of Garageband.com, a Web site that showcases songs of up-and-coming and going-nowhere acts through free downloads and streaming, peer reviews and rankings.

The site, launched with industry heavyweights like Beatles producer George Martin and Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison as consultants in 1999, went offline in February after failing to meet operating expenses.

Tom Zito, a former Washington Post music critic who helped found Garageband Records, hoped to resurrect the site with a distribution deal to put Garageband albums in stores, but that never materialized.

Finally, some of the site’s users and employees scraped together enough money to bring it back online.

The site’s return last month is welcome news to Grossman and the tens of thousands of his peers whose music can be found on it. Besides providing information about how to buy his CDs, it helps Grossman land gigs by bringing his music to the attention of club owners and party planners who prowl the Net looking for local entertainers.

Though sites like Garageband are popular with indie musicians, turning a profit off of the obscure music has proven elusive.

The Internet Underground Music Archive was nearly derailed last year before the online music company Vitaminic acquired it.

“(IUMA.com) was sort of on the verge of breaking even” when cutbacks from EMusic forced it to turn away new acts in February 2001, said IUMA founder Jeff Patterson.

Part of the problem is Web surfers eager to hear unknown acts don’t necessarily buy their CDs. Record sales were “a very small percentage of our revenue,” Patterson said. “I’d guess less than 100 units a month.”

CD Baby, a small firm in Portland, Ore., which sells discs only on the Internet, handles record sales for both IUMA and Garageband.com. And though CD Baby bills itself as the second-largest online seller of independent music, its success has been modest.

The company’s revenue has increased consistently, from $100,000 in 1999 to $1.4 million in 2001, according to vice president John Steup. It has turned a profit since 1997 when founder Derek Sivers would bike to the post office with a backpack full of discs.

CD Baby lets the artists set the price for their record, including those sold through Garageband. Typically, the bands sell discs for about $10-$12. CD Baby keeps $4 per CD sold, and the band keeps the rest. The artists don’t sign any contracts so they are free to sell their discs anywhere else they want.

CD Baby says that in a record deal with a major label, musicians only make $1-$2 per disc.