Tar Beach's uniquely brewed, genre-spanning music is like a good ol' potluck stew -- a heap of tasty but random ingredients thrown into a pot and given a healthy stir, yielding one delicious, multi-flavored concoction.

And the band is offering a taste test at 10 tonight at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave.

It's hard to put a finger on just what exactly gushes from the hands, vocal chords, hearts and souls of Tar Beach. The sextet's sound might seem somewhat familiar, and you may find yourself racking your brain to place where you've heard it before.

With Steve Miller on acoustic guitar and Bryan Berry on fiddle, Tar Beach has been described as having an essence of the Dave Matthews Band -- but grittier.

According to a press release, electric guitarist Ned Allis' contribution to the Tar Beach mix is a Southern blues feel, à la the Allman Brothers Band.

With a flair for the harmonica, front man Dave Campos adds a dash of Blues Traveler, and, with his Latin percussion, a pinch of Tito Puente.

Mix in the band's newest additions, bassist Mike Dabrowski and drummer Ryan Lynch, and voilà: one eclectic blend of music.

Ever since Tar Beach formed at Lafayette College in Easton, the band has been compared to the artists reflected in its musical influences. But the band members are more than determined to prove Tar Beach is the real deal.

"In a way, it's flattering to be looked at in a similar light," Campos said. "But we're performing our own unique music."

Allis said Tar Beach works hard to create its own individual voice. The band writes almost all of its own music and performs it passionately -- no fireworks.

"We're not trying to sell an image," Campos said. "We don't, you know, spike our hair, and when we get up on stage, we just wear T-shirts ... It's pure energy being shown."

And what would a live show be without the occasional cover song to pump up the crowd?

"We like to start with one of our songs, then segue into 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' right in the middle, and then go back to the original song," Allis said. "We like to throw in new twists."

Janelle Kowlachick (senior-information sciences and technology) saw Tar Beach last semester at Café 210 and said she enjoyed both the covers and originals.

"They played good songs that bands usually don't cover," she said. "They're really eclectic."

But Tar Beach played that show to a slightly different tune. A car accident last April had seriously injured the band's original bassist, leaving Tar Beach temporarily out of commission and sans bass player.

After three months of recuperation, Tar Beach bounced back -- in its "rebuilding phase," the band played acoustic shows to maintain its name.

Amid those acoustic performances, including the stop in State College, Tar Beach shuffled and reshuffled its lineup, eventually settling on bassist Dabrowski and new drummer Lynch.

"The new guys brought more energy," Allis said. "We're making better music now than ever before."

With six fully functional musicians, gigs booked from Vermont to South Carolina and solid fan bases in several large East Coast cities, Tar Beach couldn't be happier.

The band, with its new members, is "exactly what we felt it should be," Campos said. "We're a family."