That there was actually enough response to justify another one is giving Heath Truitt the sigh-of-relief impression that the Independent’s “Indiepaloozaroo II” is worth the effort he’d still put into it even if it wasn’t.

When Truitt, 35, moved back to the Plains from the comparatively thriving scene of Richmond, Va., in 2006, he found – except for the cover bands – a different town than the one he had left almost a decade earlier.

The record stores were boutiques; house shows were all but extinct.

Truitt started The Independent to do something about it.

“I started [the Independent] to prove that Auburn can be just like any other college town,” Truitt says. “Even Oxford, Miss., has a better scene than we do right now.”

That wasn’t always the case.

In terms of underground music, Truitt’s time as a student at Auburn in the mid-90s coincided with what were arguably the town’s glory days. Thanks to the do-it-yourself dedication of folks like Truitt, local bands had a reason to form and touring bands that might not have been able to find Alabama on a map were regularly drenched in the sweat raining from the ceilings of houses on Glenn, Ross, Harper, Gay.

Those are the kind of nights The Independent has been trying to recreate since opening last March.

“I mean, we might not turn into an Athens or a Gainesville,” Truitt says. “But we can at least do better than an Oxford or Columbia (S.C.).”

Truitt believes the “Indiepaloozaroo” series is a good start.

Birmingham indie-rockers Vulture Whale, which have drawn praise from “Blender,” “Spin,” and even Brooklyn hipsters, anchored the first such event in January.

The second phase of the event will include regional and local bands (The Bandar-Log, SummerTrees), and the four-day event will also feature an exhibit by local artists.

The biggest draw this go-round is likely Huntsville rock’n’roll buzz-band Thomas Function, whose Thursday night show will be their last before heading to the “South by Southwest” festival in March.

“The goal,” says Truitt, “is to remind [people in] Auburn that they like watching live, original music.”

After all, he says, “We’re in a college town. This is what you’re supposed to do.”

“Indiepaloozaroo II” starts Wednesday, Feb. 3, and lasts through Saturday, Feb. 6.

An exhibit of works by local artists Wayles Carpenter, Iris Talbot, and Teil Duncan will open at 6 p.m. Wednesday and be on display through March 5.

Musically, “Indiepaloozaroo II” kicks off Wednesday with progressive Tuscaloosa indie-rockers Baak Gwai, the psychedelic pop-rock of Hattiesburg, Mississippi’s Ben Shea, and Auburn’s dynamic synth-minimalist duo Summertrees.

Thursday features Thomas Function from Huntsville and Summertrees.

Friday it’s Birmingham’s hard-to-define, easy-to-like (and critically acclaimed) Through the Sparks and the funky, no-rules garage rock of locals The Bandar-Log.

Saturday wraps up with the eclectic soul of Athens, Ga.-based The HEAP and the funky, throwback hard rock of An Abstract Theory from Muscle Shoals.

The cover charge is $5 per night. Doors open at 9 p.m. Four-day passes are currently on sale at The Independent. Call 826-3151 or visit myspace.com/theindependentauburn for more information.