“We are a very personal band with our fans. We definitely go out of our way. We take it an extra mile,” lead singer Kris Roe said.

Ticking off a list of what the band does for their fans is just about enough to recruit anybody: they write their fans back; run their own Web site; have opened a record store in Santa Barbara so kids can visit them; let fans jam with them in rehearsal; listen to demos; and even let a lucky fan climb onstage and play guitar every night.

It’s that last one that is really unique to The Ataris. Every night, the band calls one fan up to play a song with them. That’s because singer-guitarist Roe needs a break. He says they originally did it on the song “San Dimas” so he could be in the crowd, but people started asking if they could play guitar while he did that.

The Ataris posted the guitar tabs on their Web site and invited fans to take the spot. Roe says he doesn’t really care if the person they pick stinks on guitar. He says he just wants to give some kid the thrill of knowing what it’s like to play in front of 2,000 people.

“When the band first started out we used to end each show with the audience coming up on stage,” Roe says.

Although insurance issues now say no to bringing everybody up onstage, it’s still cool for the one fan to join The Ataris for “San Dimas.”

This summer will bring a slew of opportunities for any fan wanting their own personal jam session with The Ataris. The band will be on the road from mid-June through mid-August with the Vans Warped Tour crew.