King of Dirk, a local band, fuses a laid back approach with acoustic guitars to produce a classic rock sound that makes their throw-back style unique and fun for all those in attendance.

How often do you hear of a band welcoming people from the audience on stage to sing and share the spotlight with them? Well, if you are a regular of The Brewery Inc., 233 E. College Ave., then you do every Tuesday night.

The unpretentious band brings a relaxed feeling to the bar and enjoys getting the crowd involved. Humbly, the members say they are not the best singers around, but for a couple of guys who look like they're just winging it, they're pretty entertaining.

"It's been a big surprise . . . we didn't think we could pull off singing in front of people and actually have the bar want us to come back and play," said John Parkins (guitar, bass, lead vocals).

With covers of such legendary classics as Led Zeppelin's "Going to California," Neil Young's "Down by the River" and an endless supply of Beatles, Mike Daley (guitar, mandolin, back up vocals) and Parkins show many regulars at the Brewery, their usual venue, that rock' n' roll is still alive.

The band, which Daley said got its name from some sort of relationship between them and Dirk Diggler from the movie Boogie Nights, prides itself on having fun, bringing the audience into play and doing what makes them most happy — playing music.

King of Dirk plays a three-hour acoustic show starting at 10:30 every Tuesday night at the Brewery with the bare minimum of band essentials. Two guys, two guitars, one mandolin and some help from a few friends sums up the group's style. On Friday nights, the band plays the 8 to 10 p.m. happy hour with electric guitars, a bass and a drummer.

Why would a band want to concentrate mainly on the acoustic side? For King of Dirk this question has a two-fold answer: "It just so happened that John sold all of his electric equipment, but aside from that we also enjoy that it enables us to feed off each other's energy," Daley said.

With the band concentrating its energy into acoustic music, they have adopted numerous covers that light up the quaint setting of the Brewery. Among the popular artists the band covers, and to some extent specialize in, are Elvis Costello, Nirvana, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Although many of the bands that King of Dirk covers are well known, the particular songs they pick are often not what a fan would expect.

"We like to do the less popular, B-side songs, that can catch people off guard. It even surprises us sometimes when we look into the audience and people know the words," Daley said.

Daley and Parkins are the two pillars of the band. Kelly Poese, a first grade teacher, helps the band on different songs; namely, the hard to hit Robert Plant notes. On Fridays, Brian Tuttle (drums) and Ed Ballock (bass) lend their talents to the band.

With or without the help from friends, Daley and Parkins are a show in themselves. The two extremely talented musicians became friends while studying acoustics here at Penn State. Daley is still in the program as a graduate student and Parkins has since finished the graduate program and now has his own acoustic company.

Both were long-time musicians before King of Dirk was formed. Daley in particular, is versed in piano, clarinet, saxophone and the harmonica along with the instruments he plays in the band.

The band also has a few original songs they have been working on. "Four Weeks," "Cat's Cradle" and "This City" are among the songs that the band has been working on. "It's hard to put a finger on the exact genre these songs would fall into, but you could say that maybe the one has a REM-ish sound," Parkins, who writes most of the originals, said.

As for the band making it big in the music industry, Parkins said, "Right now we're having a lot of fun because it's low key. Having bigger crowds would be nice, but we're still not completely courageous about going up on stage."

What the band lacks in courage, they more than make for in pure musical talent.