The story is not new. An aspiring reporter ventures to a nearby northern college night club to boost his band awareness. He goes to check out a favorite local band and an obscure opening act from Indiana called something like The Why Store.

After each band played a set of its music, The Why Store looked pumped as the members returned to the second stage for its next set.

Almost one full, groove-inflected yet hard-rocking set later, the curious reporter looked on in astonishment as The Why Store fired up the sweaty, rambunctious crowd that did everything but riot to ensure the band would continue playing even if it was well into the main act’s stage time.

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But the members of The Why Store, which will be taking the stage tonight at the Copper Dragon Brewing Co., played only one more song, probably because they already knew their time on the main stage in clubs across the Midwest would come eventually.

Why Store guitarist Michael David Smith remembers the aforementioned night, and said the situation the band was in was not an uncommon occurrence for The Why Store during that part of its career.

It happened to us before and it’s happened to us since, too, he said. But it’s an uneasy feeling when the crowd of a band that’s playing after you is yelling for you.

But crowds have been yelling for The Why Store almost immediately after the band began to play in clubs.

The progression from The Why Store’s practice studio in Muncie, Ind., to local clubs around the Ball State University area was a carefully planned path that the members of the band wanted to make sure they did right.

We were really careful in the way we formed. We just practiced in our house at college for almost two years before we ventured out to play shows, Smith said. Most bands want to get right out there so they start practicing and book gigs right after.

When things started to happen, it was more of a sigh of relief than a surprise.

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The confidence the members had in the band could be borderline arrogance, but the music scene the band was trying to break from was not the most promising for budding, original bands.

So any certainty The Why Store had in itself while it got airborne kept the band from imploding before it got off the ground.

The band grew out of a complete cover band market. Before we went out to play anywhere, we wanted to make sure we had something the bar owners would make money with, Smith said. Bands all the time say, The bars are so full of crap. They won’t hire original bands.’ Well, if you’re not selling tickets, then of course they’re not going to hire bands like that.

The bottom line is that you have to sell passes and tickets. We wanted to make sure we had something before we went out that would achieve that. That’s what gave us a sense of confidence from the beginning.

The confidence has not ended with the band’s desire to make The Why Store a full-time job. The members all look like they’re having fun on stage even toward the end of their typical 2 1/2 hour sets especially lead singer/songwriter Chris Shaffer and his wide-eyed vocal delivery.

And who wouldn’t have fun on stage when playing in a band that has played with such mainstream bands in recent years as Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and the Samples?

The band’s first single Lack of Water from its self-titled Way Cool! debut took a hike up Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart last year thanks to its catchy chorus.

Though the song has helped gain the band a fan base (The Whomheads), modesty still takes center stage for The Why Store, leaving the rock star attitudes for MTV.

It’s hard sometimes for it to sink in or what it means to be played all over the country, Smith said. We’re just doing the same thing we were doing two years ago.

What the band will be doing in the next few months is heading into the studio to record what Smith said will be the band’s best record yet.

But even if the record exceeds his expectations, Smith said The Why Store will continue its journey down the rock n’ roll highway.

I don’t think we’ll ever be satisfied. There’s always a next step, he said. It’s a dangerous place to be if you’re satisfied with where you’re at.

The [Rolling] Stones may be satisfied but that doesn’t count.

Local rockers Halfway Jane will kickstart the evening’s music at around 10 p.m.

Tickets for the show are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. For information, call 549-2319.