Blues artist Scott Ainslie and singer Mary Sue Twohy will play the next session of the Acoustic Brew Coffeehouse concert series Saturday.

The show will be at the Center for Well-Being, 123 Mt. Nittany Road, in Lemont.

Ainslie's music thrives in the realm of traditional blues. He plays and writes blues music, and is a known blues historian, having written the book Robert Johnson: At the Crossroads.

In regards to preparing to go on stage Ainslie said, "Mostly I drive and spend that time thinking about shaping the evening for the audience."

He added that, "every performance says something."

"Music is a language; if you think of the songs as sentences in a dialogue, sets are paragraphs, the evening is a short story ... and it bears some thinking about," Ainslie said.

He said he molds the performance into a musical and informational testament to the blues, an experience to enrich his audience.

"I prefer generally to use historical facts and stories above jokes in between songs, although I like to think I'm funny," Ainslie said. "While I am an accomplished musician and a strong and emotional singer, I'd much rather have someone be moved by the evening than be impressed with my skill."

Acoustic Brew member Paul Rito said what drew the group to Scott was his music.

"It's just great blues and great guitar work, and he's got all of these great stories," Rito said.

Before the actual performance, Ainslie will host a workshop that will last from 4 to 5:30 p.m. According to Acoustic Brew Coffeehouse's web site, www.acousticbrew.org, the workshop is free open to anyone wanting to come and learn some blues guitar techniques.

"Teaching is the way I try to forge the next links," Ainslie said. "I was offered a great deal of what I know and cherish about music for simply putting myself in the presence of other musicians, they have made me a link in the chain of a certain portion of our human culture."

Opening for Ainslie is New Jersey native and folk musician Mary Sue Twohy.

"I sort of straddle the fence of traditional and contemporary folk music," she said.

Twohy's music ranges from singing traditional folk songs to performing songs that are more in the style of Sarah McLachlan and others. She also subscribes to the belief that a performance should be full of energy.

"It's all about energy, no doubt about it," Twohy said. "If I'm not incredibly nervous before a show, I get more nervous. The more you do it the more you know how to use that energy make it wrap around the audience."

She builds her performances with music, storytelling and improvisational humor.

Twohy's music is guitar and vocal driven, and she sometimes will sing a cappella.

"If I've done my job well every one feels good, its like a musical massage," she said. "The best thing about music for me is that I physically feel better after playing a show, I feel like I can conquer the world."

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available at the door and at Webster's Bookstore Cafe, 128 S. Allen St. Penn State students can receive a $2 discount at the door with an ID.