This is a growing problem for today’s world, but don’t fear. I think the best way is to start small. You need to build from the ground up. I would suggest finding a singer (if you don’t sing yourself) and work up just a few simple songs you can do really well and go play at open mic nights. They’re in every single city. When you get a few of those under your belt, work up your repertoire and add songs until you can “take the training wheels off” and go play at easy-going places like local coffee shops or mom & pop restaurants (which are also in every town and city). Network as best as you can. Connect with other local musicians in your area and go to gigs of other bands. Sometimes you can connect through social media to the bandmates and ask the drummer or whoever if they’d be down to jam sometime. Then you can start working your way out of the “acoustic only” thing.
The problem with things like Craigslist is that there are a lot of time-wasters on there. At least for me, anyway. I’ve been to Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Helsinki and Kansas City and not ONE Craiglist ad resulted in anything worthwhile. I do agree with getting out and posting on billboards at places like Guitar Center, or maybe even contact a teacher and ask them if they have any students looking for a band. I found a really awesome bassist once that way that stuck with us for a long time.
Also, get your own stuff going a little and make YouTube videos of yourself playing. Unfortunately, people are so lazy these days. I remember back in Los Angeles from 2005-2010 NO ONE wanted anything to do with my singer and I because we didn’t have a MySpace. Everything had to be laid out in plain sight for them to see at their convenience. Everyone wants to see what you can do before they give you the time of day, even if they themselves aren’t that good either.
know that it’s a growing process. But being proactive is the best advice I can give you
