If you had to guess, what kind of music do you think a band called Frog Holler plays: alt-country, or perhaps hip-hop?

This isn't "I Know Black People" from Chappelle's Show, so of course the answer is that Frog Holler is in fact considered an alternative country band.

And if you aren't going home for Easter this weekend, you can see the Berks County-based outfit play its first ever State College gig at 10 p.m. Saturday at Zeno's, 100 W. College Ave.

"I've only ever been to State College once, and that was in the dark," Frog Holler's lead vocalist and main songwriter Darren Schlappich said.

It will actually be the first time Schlappich has been to town since he saw Son Volt, another descendant of alt-country institution Uncle Tupelo besides Wilco, play Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., in 1995.

In spite of Frog Holler's similarity to such groups, Schlappich said he feels that "country is such a weird word." As an example, he said that Frog Holler might play nearly an entire performance of electric tunes, maybe one or two bluegrass, and still, the immediate response is to classify the band as country.

"I think that's just people's natural reaction," Schlappich said about this nagging tendency to label and categorize.

Such preconceptions used to be at least slightly more accurate. In its early days, Frog Holler was exclusively an acoustic bluegrass trio.

Schlappich said the band just sort of naturally evolved into its current arrangement -- an electric sextet -- through meeting and playing with like-minded musicians. This led to the incorporation of influences such as Southern rock, Americana, roots and the Uncle Tupelo-inspired "No Depression" scene.

Frog Holler's first three records were cut at a friend's house in a live format. For the band's newest release, 2003's acclaimed Railings, Schlappich said he wanted to do more of a production record.

"It's nice that they seem to go a little bit away from alt-country and do some experimental stuff," said Britton Edwards, manager of local musician Dawn Kinnard, who has played with Frog Holler.

In spite of the band's obvious regional appeal, Frog Holler has been generating a national buzz on the strength of Railings. Schlappich said such positive responses encourage the band to continue making music steeped in what it knows best: its native Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

"It always amazes me that we send these things out and the reaction is generally positive," he said.

Railings doesn't shy away from its country and rock origins in the instrumentation, though it definitely backs off a little in exuberance, Schlappich said. The album's bleakness is a departure from previous recordings.

"I think that's coming from me," Schlappich said. "This record just shows a lot more frustration."

He described these feelings as the musical output for a little band in a small town, working day jobs to make ends meet and playing whenever and wherever it's economically feasible. At this point, Schlappich said Frog Holler would even be kind of open to a major label record deal, as long as the band could continue to do its own thing.

"It's just getting more and more difficult to make music into a living, especially original music," he said.

State College alt-country fans certainly seem to respect the work of Frog Holler. Kinnard herself described the band as having great lyrics and a very full sound, courtesy of its banjo, mandolin, keyboard and guitars.

Local music promoter Ted Swanson praised Frog Holler's loyal following, which is extending to the national level, but at no loss to the band's musicianship.

Swanson also applauded State College's smaller venues, saying he believes that the best music out there is still club-sized.

"I'm glad Zeno's and The Darkhorse are stepping up and getting out of this block programming crap and giving bands a chance who really deserve a chance," he said.