Bluegrass, folk and blues will come to State College tonight when the "Acoustic Duo of Destruction," Herb and Hanson, play at Otto's Pub and Brewery, 2105 N. Atherton St.

The West Virginia duo will take the stage at 9:30 p.m. in the bar area at Otto's.

"We play some bluegrass, folk songs, we have some songs that are ragtime, lots of bluesy tunes," Michael Hanson, who plays guitar, banjo and sings, said.

Herb Manila, who plays guitar, mandolin and sings for the act, said the group began playing together in high school.

"We started off being invited to jam in a high school band," Manila said.

Manila said Hanson had only been playing guitar about a month when the two first began playing together.

"I've never seen anyone pick up the guitar that quickly," Manila said.

Hanson said the band plays three sets, two sets with both on acoustic guitar, and one set with Hanson on acoustic guitar and Manila on mandolin.

The band has recently been branching out and trying to book different venues.

"We've been playing together for about 10 years, and over the past one-and-a-half to two years, expanding where we play," Hanson said.

Doug Ling, a manager at Otto's, said this will be the group's second performance at Otto's.

They were first invited to play after the owner saw them play in Harrisburg.

"It was obvious they were really talented," Ling said.

Ling also noted a mild turnout for the previous show may have been because of the poor Sunday night slot and hopes to see more people come out for this show.

"Friday night is busy -- that might help," Ling said.

Hanson said that he enjoyed playing the first show at Otto's despite the turnout.

"[It was] a really positive response ... a lot of people really seemed to like it," Hanson said.

The band plays about a half-and-half mix of covers and original songs, Hanson said.

"We like to play covers of songs we like, not a whole lot of covers of songs people know," Hanson said. "We try to make the whole show a new experience."

Hanson said the group goes in and out of songs, playing off one another.

"We play a lot of traditional songs, songs that don't have an author," Hanson said.

The band covers artists such as John Hartford, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and Townes Van Zandt, Hanson said.

"[Our] two biggest influences are Dylan and the Dead," Manila said.

Manila also noted that the group's interest in both artists helped open the way to other genres of music.

"Dylan's got tons of Delta blues influence," Manila said.

Both members also noted that Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead also played in a bluegrass group, helping expose them to that genre.