Skellerpalooza continues tonight at Rathskeller All American, 108 S. Pugh St., with two out-of-town acts and one local side-project. The musical lineup includes State College-based group The Flaming Johnsons, Pittsburgh's Still Small Voice and Second Best, from Pottsville, Pa.

Event organizer Jeff Sabarese said running the weekly concert has given him some new insight into the local scene, but the difference between the well-known bands and the out-of-towners is noticeable, Sabarese said.

"When the non-local bands come out, you don't have that built-in guaranteed crowd," he said. "Local bands get all their friends to come and they all go crazy ... [A non-local band] is received well, and people come out to listen, but it's not as crazy."

Tonight's lineup just might reflect both of these aspects of Skellerpalooza. Sabarese said The Flaming Johnsons, who will perform first, is actually a reincarnation of local group J.R. and Deborah. The band is a side project featuring bassist James Miller, guitarist Wade Shumaker and drummer Dom Peruso -- everyone from the original group with the exception of J.R. Mangan and Deborah Musolff.

Still Small Voice will take the stage second. Although tonight will be the group's first appearance in town, the band is no stranger to sharing a bill; in its home base area, Still Small Voice has opened for acts such as Foo Fighters, Our Lady Peace and Aerosmith.

"The audiences were just overwhelming," guitarist/vocalist Justin Sellers said in an e-mail, regarding those shows. The group describes its sound as hard and loud rock 'n' roll with diverse influences.

"We all have a wide variety of influences," Sellers said. "You name it, chances are we listen to it. Our goal is simply to write great rock songs with monster hooks. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel in any way. We just want to write the best songs we can."

Even though the group mostly plays its own material, Still Small Voice sometimes pursues the cover band format in the guise of its alter ego band, The Nintendos. Under that name, the group plays "the best and worst" of '80s pop music. Sellers said the group might even bust out a Nintendos' nugget tonight.

Third on the bill will be Second Best, who will also be playing its first State College gig this evening. Guitarist Bill Hannaway described his band's sound as punk, plain and simple.

"We play punk," he said. "Some people say they can hear a NOFX influence, others say they hear Bad Religion."

The group takes pride in playing all-original music. Hannaway said most of the other musical groups that play in the Pottstown area are cover bands. His group uses its name as a kind of jab at that situation.

The band's original material ranges from serious to good-natured, a theme that is reflected on the band's Web site, www.secondbestland.com. The site includes links to information on how to contact congressmen, as well as a section describing the group's "Hot Girl Contest."

"We have some political songs," Hannaway said. "We're always trying to get people to realize we're getting stomped on. But we also have some silly songs, because you can't be serious all the time."

For Sabarese, it's just another week at Skellerpalooza.

"I think it has finally caught on, and people know what's going on down there. It's something that's probably going to be there for a long time."