The days of an artist or band desperately chasing radio airplay by dropping off tapes or CDs — or selling demos out of the trunk of a car — are long gone. For years, that hustle was the typical path for breaking into the music industry and getting noticed by record executives. All of it, of course, predates the rise of the internet and social media. That stage of an artist’s journey is often referred to as paying your dues.

It’s a concept not lost on guitarist and vocalist Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes. He recalls the band’s early Atlanta gigs after he and his brother Chris co-founded the group.

“When the first record came out, I was 19 years old when I made it. Chris was 20 — I think he was 21 when we made ‘Shake Your Money Maker.’ And, you know, we played Atlanta to 12 people. On our last show in Atlanta, we even gave away free alcohol. And no one showed up. And then a year or two later, we played in Moscow in front of a million people with AC/DC,” he said.

Decades after the band’s 1990 debut “Shake Your Money Maker”— followed by nine additional studio albums and four live albums — their 10th studio project, “A Pound of Feathers,” arrives. Robinson told “Closer Look” host Rose Scott that not much has changed in how the brothers craft songs, even when navigating creative differences.

“We’re a little bit wiser — one would hope — now that we’re older. We let the producer decide, so it gets us off the hook a little bit. A lot of times Chris and I are on the same page. Basically, I write the music; he writes the lyrics,” he said.

Robinson joined “Closer Look” ahead of the band’s performances in Alpharetta on May 23 and in Augusta on June 4.