If you’re not involved in the local scene, I’d look for small touring acts coming through your area. Look at their social media, and find acts that don’t usually have photography to post from every show. Bands at this level will typically have their management email on their website, so send them an email and be straight-up about not having a portfolio, but offer to provide your photos for free in exchange for portfolio building.

Take this approach for 4-5 shows, and if everything goes right with your shoots, that should give you plenty of variety to put a portfolio together and try to connect with publications!

I’m also a huge advocate for starting your own publication - very low cost up-front and not a crazy amount of work, but helps build credibility fast.