The Good has yet to make a major label recording, but the band already has sold out.

Selling out is something that appalls most die-hard musicians and music fans, but it is something that the group’s vocalist/guitarist is completely enthusiastic about.

“We sold out before we ever had a chance to be totally credible,” guitarist Tony Rogers said. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m a big capitalist. If selling out means that I can play music, then I’ll do it. You do whatever you can do in order to play music.”

He is referring to the one-minute song titled “If I Didn’t Have To Work,” which the band made for Budweiser two years ago. The radio jingle, which Rogers described as “ridiculous and really goofy,” is still played in various parts of the country.

The Budweiser commercial is one example of how The Good is breaking down barriers for independently released groups. Before the group even released its first CD, “Oft Interred With Their Bones,” in 1994, the group had contributed two songs for a Los Angeles-based stage drama, “Reality and Other Nightmares.”

“A friend of ours produced the play, and he hired us to write two songs for it,” Rogers said. “Those two songs didn’t open any doors for us, but we got a lot of good feedback from it. Basically, we used the opportunity as a way to test the studio out before making our first album.”

That was back in 1993, when The Good consisted of Rogers and lead vocalist Devin Arkin. Since then, the group has blossomed to include lead guitarist John Scholvin, bassist Dave Russell and drummer John Goodman — not the one of Roseanne fame.

The group also has produced a follow-up CD, 1997’s “Milky White,” which is currently in rotation at over five dozen radio stations across the Midwest.

“Our new CD was produced by Chris Shepard,” Rogers said. “He produced the Smashing Pumpkin’s “Mellon Collie” and stuff by Wilco, KMFDM and Liz Phair. We hired him because he has a terrific ear for big rock-and-roll sounds.

“He’s just really adventurous with sound,” he continued. “He had a lot of great ideas to make our sound bigger. He beefed it up quite a bit. We wanted our album to sound huge, and he did that for us.”

Having a big-name producer working on the group’s latest release is one more step toward the mass success which the band so desperately craves.

“Do I believe that we are successful now?” Rogers asked. “Yeah, I do. Have I achieved what I want to? Not yet. We have the highest hopes for ourselves. We are picking up steam as we go and we have made big advances every step of the way. But I am not satisfied yet. I’m aiming for a major record-label deal.

“I truly believe that we are major record-label material,” he added. “It is totally where we envision ourselves. Right now, we are putting on a stadium show in clubs. We play on a bigger scale than most bar bands. Our show is tailor-made for bigger venues like concert halls. That’s the type of thing we’d like to do.”

Rogers believes the most effective way to get a major label contract is to “make a splash” by putting on great concerts, putting out great CDs and earning good reviews.

“We are raising our hands as high as we can,” he said. “We hope that they notice us. It’s easy to put out a CD these days. There is a glut of product out there and record companies aren’t beating around the bush to develop raw talent. They are waiting to see who comes to the top of the pile. Hopefully that will be us.”

In the meantime, the band will settle for playing as many gigs as it possibly can. The group is currently working on putting together “Goodstock” this December.

The band is planning on “Goodstock” to be an annual event in which the group can unite with four or five other local Chicago bands for an afternoon of fun.

The first “Goodstock” was a benefit to raise money for a friend of the groups who needed a bone marrow transplant.

The benefit was a success and the community would like it to continue.

The Good are also planning a Halloween show titled “Ghost of Rock ‘N’ Roll Past,” which will feature the band playing cover versions of songs from groups with dead musicians such as The Who, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Queen. The group is also working on a new CD which should be released next year (“hopefully on a major label” Rogers pointed out).

The Good will be playing an all-ages show at the M-Shop Saturday night at 9 p.m. Tickets are $3 and will go up one dollar the day of the show.