Between young musicians playing real instruments in nightclubs, basements and coffeehouses and wannabes rocking out virtually at home on their Guitar Hero 3 video game, it seems everyone has some illusion of becoming a rock star. Realistically, less than 1 percent of those brave souls who strut their stuff on local stages end up making it.

“It depends on what it means to you to make a living,” said David Tamulevich, vice president of artist development at The Roots Agency. “If you want to be a pop star, almost nobody gets there.”

Don’t let that deter you from dreaming. Tamulevich will share his quarter century of experience as a talent agent and 35 years as a performer during his agent/manager workshop for singer-songwriters at this year’s Nashua River Folk Festival, which takes place Aug. 10 at the Pierce Homestead in Lancaster.

“It’s tough to make a living playing music,” said Tamulevich, a member of Mustard’s Retreat, who will perform at the festival. “Some performers travel around the country playing wherever they can, some teach. It’s all being creative about what’s out there and what you’re passionate about. A lot of people are unable to do anything else. It’s their calling in life.”

“My first impression of them, and anyone starting a coffeehouse, especially in the Boston area, was one of trepidation because there’s so many out there,” he said.

One reason they’ve survived — and serve a guide for anyone trying to make it in the music business — is their integrity and honesty.

“There are no games,” Tamulevich said. When Jean and Denise had a question about how to do something, they asked it. “They were willing to learn and they didn’t act like they knew it all. Now they understand a lot about the whole business and it shows in their being able to do this festival and do it right.”

While you don’t hear much folk music on commercial radio these days, the state of the music itself is healthy.

“People are coming out to shows because they want what this music has to offer,” Tamulevich said. “Folk music is about sharing an experience as opposed to rock music, which is about selling an experience.”

Modern technology has democratized a starting musician’s ability to get his or her music heard. Instead of having to try to get their songs played on the radio one station at a time, budding performers can put a whole lot of material up on a Web site rather inexpensively.

“There’s a whole new wave of young kids coming up,” Tamulevich said. Meg Hutchinson, Rose Cousins, and Bearfoot, a “quasi-bluegrassy group in their early 20s” are amongst those performers who’ve caught his attention.

“They’re very web savvy, putting their videos on YouTube or MySpace,” he said. “They can get a lot of buzz out there even though they’re under the industry radar. It’s all about staying in touch with your audience. You have to establish a real connection or people will delete your stuff or not go through it (when you send them an e-mail).”

Towards the end of 2007, folk singer John Gorka, whom Tamulevich represents, gave him a top 30 list of his favorite books, music and other related items that he placed onto the Internet. Within days, it had been picked and published up by a variety of media outlets, introducing Gorka to whole lot of new people who hadn’t heard of him before.

Tamulevich loves seeing those kinds of occurrences.

“I became an agent not only to make great art, but make the connections,” he said. Five years ago, he teamed up with Tim Drake, who got his start promoting rock ‘n’ roll shows while still attending high school. Two years later, they opened up The Roots Agency and currently represent 30 artists, including Gandalf Murphy, Susan Werner and Richie Havens (all of whom are slated to appear at this year’s festival), as well as Gorka, Janis Ian and Vance Gilbert.

Being an agent encourages lots of questions from aspiring stars; Tamulevich is happy to share what he knows.

“I’ve got a piece on our Web site (therootsagency.com) that’s used all the time that lays it all out in regards to what goes into working with an artist and what you as an artist will have to do to make it work,” he said.

His workshop at the Nashua River Folk Festival will be a “Booking Management 101” course for aspiring performers.

“I hope it saves people from having to reinvent the wheel,” Tamulevich said. “When I talk to young artists, they want to know the reality of what’s out there, how do I set up a tour and what’s the difference between a booking agent and a manager and do I need them and when do I need them.”

He’ll share his experience of working with the likes of Gorka, Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, Greg Brown, Patty Griffin, The Story and Martin Sexton in their early years, hopefully giving those in attendance knowledge they can then use to develop their own careers and craft.

“The people who really make it have their priorities straight,” Tamulevich said. “If you’re focused on doing good art, being a performer living a health lifestyle and doing the best songs you can, then you’ll probably do well.”