Bringing its unique fusion of bluegrass, country, folk, funk, reggae, roots rock and everything in between, Big Leg Emma is coming to the Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., Wednesday at 8 p.m.

"Big Leg Emma is going to be a great show," said Dave Wells, Crowbar director of operations.

Wells said the western New York-based band is "going to be the next big thing," and added that when the band opened for The Wailers in November, "they were the band that stole the show."

Named for a Frank Zappa song, Big Leg Emma, having been an opening act in its previous State College appearance, returns to the stage tonight as Crowbar's main act, with local band Alchemy pumping up the crowd beforehand.

Centered in Jamestown, N.Y., Big Leg Emma has been together since 2001.

Initially comprised of members Charity Nuse (mandolin, vocals), Steve Johnson (guitar, vocals), and Amanda Barton (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), fellow musicians Dan Warmbrodt (bass, vocals), Kevin Rowe (guitar) and John McGuire (drums) soon followed to complete the formation of the present group.

Blending all their influences and musical styles proved harmonious.

Nuse describes it as "something real to think about with our lyrics, something fun to dance to with our grooves and something nice to listen to with our sounds."

Citing his personal influences as The Beatles, The Who and 311, bassist Warmbrodt detailed the diversity of his other bandmates' musical inspirations, ranging from Bob Dylan to Grateful Dead.

All of the members have a hand in writing and producing song material, as well as the vocal aspects allowing for each member's style to be reflected in the music.

Performing all over the East Coast, from Ohio to Tennessee, the band has experienced a growing fan base stemming from the band's many festival appearances.

Big Leg Emma has shared the stage with other well-known musicians, such as Rusted Root member Mike Glabicki and fellow Jamestown band 10,000 Maniacs.

Since 2001, the band has been busy creating two CDs for their fans to enjoy.

Its first effort at a recording produced the fourteen-track debut album Gramma Don't Like That!.

As the fans clamored for more, Big Leg Emma then recorded its second album, The Color of Wind.

After seeing Big Leg Emma's last performance at the Crowbar, Lauralyn Clawson (sophomore-Spanish) said she really enjoyed the crowd-audience interaction.

"They were awesome," she said.

One of the singers went into the audience and danced with everyone. I had a lot of fun."

Clawson added that some of the instruments were pretty unconventional.

"The girl was using a washboard as her instrument," she said.

"It was very unique."

Warmbrodt declared himself "a big PSU fan."

He is excited for his band's upcoming performance in State College.

"I love playing for Penn State, it's such a cool town, he said.

"When we played before we were very well-received. We were very pleased."