After interning for indie rock label Victory Records, ISU alumnus Joshua Jenkins came back to central Iowa in April 2008 and realized there weren’t enough people promoting music in Iowa.

Jenkins set out to change that by launching Yellow Brick, a music promotion magazine.

“No one thinks Iowa has a music scene. And it might be small, but it’s still here and we need to really embrace it,” he said.

Jenkins said he views rock music as something becoming more mainstream and wants to help bring younger kids toward the Iowa music scene. Stressing community involvement and Yellow Brick’s dependence upon it, he said he wants “to bring everyone together and be one big force.”

“There isn’t a wellspring of bands in Iowa, but that’s one thing we’re hoping the magazine does — that it helps encourage kids to get involved,” he said.

Jenkins emphasized the magazine’s desire to truly connect fans with bands.

“I think a lot of fans are hesitant to talk to the bands they like unless they’re already friends with them,” he said. “Basically, we just want to break the barriers.”

Yellow Brick is in the process of developing a Web site, which Jenkins intends to become a networking tool for fans, bands and venues. The site would allow bands to promote shows and give everyone the opportunity to contact each other within Iowa.

Yellow Brick, which circulated its first issue in July, will release its second issue this month. A concert Friday at the House of Bricks in Des Moines will accompany the release. Locals bands The Magazines and Here’s My Chance will headline the event.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to put this first issue out and see if people like it.’ Now we’ve got the second issue coming… We’ve gotten an overwhelming response from bands that think this would be a great way to get promoted and that it’s a cool idea.”

Yellow Brick is also sent to major media outlets and record labels to help expose Iowa bands.

One component of the magazine is a CD sampler, which includes only bands that are featured in that issue.

“The concept of this is, we’re putting the bands that you’re going to read about on [the CD] so that you don’t have to go to MySpace,” he said. “I hate MySpace, and this is something you can pop in and listen to while you read the magazine.”

The Melcher-Dallas native said he took care of almost everything in the first issue, but this time around, he’s recruited a small staff including Kayla Kern, sophomore in art and design.

Yellow Brick, so far, has been distributed at Hot Topic, Guitar Center and local retailers, but Jenkins said he wants “to hit anywhere that fits the rock lifestyle.”

He said he plans to target local music shops and skateboarding shops, as well as reach outside Des Moines and hit all major Iowa cities.