Sometimes, the rules of what makes for a good jam band aren't set in Stone -- unless, of course, that's the last name of its leader.

The Gordon Stone Band will play Saturday at The Brewery, 223 E. Beaver Ave. Instead of following the standard guitar-bass-drums formula, the trio's sound is driven by Stone's bluegrass-influenced banjo picking and pedal-steel guitar work.

"The Gordon Stone Band plays original music focusing on composition, interaction and improvisation," Stone said, quoting a press kit from his Web site. "They combine bluegrass and jazz blended with Latin, world beat and funk in tunes ranging from laid back grooves to high energy musical excursions."

This performance will be the second time Stone takes the stage with a recently-formed rhythm section, but the show is one of only four scheduled dates until March.

"Their tunes are so eclectic, ranging from down-home bluegrass to jazz to rock," said Dave Niedbalski (senior-integrative arts). "I'm expecting a really tight, high-energy show on Saturday."

But even though Stone's live exposure may be limited right now, his exposure throughout his career certainly is not. His picking can be heard on two early Phish albums, he has performed with countless bands including Strangefolk and members of moe., and he has written and recorded music for movie soundtracks.

Stone first picked up the banjo when he was 12, learning bluegrass technique from a Pete Seeger book. Although there was no "banjo guru" in the New England area where he lived, he found the music "fascinating," he said.

He also took up the pedal-steel guitar, which one plays sitting down and with a slide to create a gliding, often haunting sound frequently heard in country music.

"Pedal-steel is a very vocal instrument," Stone said. "Many vocalists have had an influence on my playing on that."

After attending Berklee School of Music in Boston, Stone moved to Burlington, Vt., and became a staple of the local music scene there. At this time, he also formed his first trio along with the Jazz Mandolin Project's Jamie Masefield, who had already popularized alternative bluegrass music for music fans in the area.

"There was sort of a following already," Stone said. "We had an audience right away, so we just kept it going."

Stone also developed his connections to Phish in Vermont, providing bassist Mike Gordon with banjo lessons early on and eventually recording banjo and pedal-steel for the group's releases A Picture of Nectar and Rift.

The next few years kept Stone busy, as he released three albums with his trio and began touring and performing at large festivals with even more artists. His 2001 album, Red Room, featured drummer Russ Lawton, who would go on to tour as part of Phish's Trey Anastasio's solo project.

Recently, Stone composed the music for a Vermont-based independent film titled Mud Season and provided pedal-steel tracks for the soundtrack to Gordon's Outside Out, which should be released in the next few months, Stone said.

Penn State students might remember Stone's name from his previous performances in the area several years ago. He said success he has had in the past in this area helped him get booked for Saturday's show.

"It was a really good market when we were playing on campus, even though that was a long time ago," Stone said. "We'd like to continue developing the market."

For this weekend's shows, Stone will be pulling songs from all of his releases and throwing in a few jazz standards.

"Right now, there's not much going on," he said. "We're still getting adjusted to the new players, but I'd like to try out ... more sounds from new places. But we're still keeping it funky."

The Gordon Stone Band will begin performing at 10:30 p.m. The show is for ages 21 and older.