The tools now available to any musician via the digital revolution are both mind-blowing and soul-crushing, and few are the resources to help sort the good from the bad.

Canasta is one of the smartest and hardest-working bands on the local music scene, and violinist-vocalist Elizabeth Lindau and bassist-vocalist Matt Priest graciously agreed to a series of interviews conducted via GooglePlus Hangout to answer these questions: “What advice can you offer younger bands about wrangling with the Web? And what are your thoughts on the best and worst digital tools now available to musicians?”

The final part of our five-part series recounts some of the best and most surprising experiences Canasta has had, including playing for then-Sen. Barak Obama and touring with the State Department to Mongolia—opportunities that its members stress come from the oldest and handiest tools at any musician’s disposal: networking and face-to-face contact.

Canasta can be found on the web at www.canastamusic.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. The group performs a free show at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora at 9 p.m. Friday.

If you enjoyed this series, you may also want to consider Sound Opinions Presents: Everything You Need to Know About the Music Industry in 2014 at the Old Town School of Folk Music starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 5. Tickets and more details can be found here.

Earlier in this series

Part One: Facebook, iTunes, CDBaby, All Music, Twitter & MySpace

Part Two: The frustrations of YouTube & Rumblefish

Part Three: The frustrations of MTV, festivals, SonicBids & other scams

Part Four: ASCAP, Sound Exchange, Pandora, Spotify & good old-fashioned physical product

Follow me on Twitter @JimDeRogatis, join me on Facebook, and podcast Sound Opinions and Jim + Carmel’s TV + Dinner.