With nothing but her voice and her guitar, Lauren Sheehan will combine American roots music, jazz and even Celtic styles in her headlining Acoustic Brew concert series performance Saturday night.

At 7:30, Sheehan will perform with opener Bob Beach at the Center for Well-Being, 123 Mt. Nittany Road, said Mel DeYoung, the Acoustic Brew series' main booker.

Beach, specializing in vocals, flute and harmonica, said he first met Sheehan a little more than a year ago at a folk conference.

"It was an opportunity to meet other musicians and find out who you have things in common with," he said.

After playing with Sheehan once until 6 in the morning, Beach said she asked him to help her when she found out she would be on the bill for an Acoustic Brew concert series.

Beach said his music is largely blues-based.

"I take a lot of old tunes and re-do them," he said.

Sheehan plays a variety of different styles. Country blues, hillbilly blues, Appalachian material, banjo tunes and some contemporary folk songs are all part of her repertoire.

Sheehan said she began performing in 2004 after retiring from teaching and from her position as a private school director.

Her knack for teaching, however, has weaned its way into her performance, DeYoung said.

"She's really good at setting a context for the music," he said.

DeYoung added that Sheehan brings a sense of background for the songs.

"If someone's not familiar with the forms, she does a good job of showing people where the music came from," he said.

Paul Rito, who is in charge of the Acoustic Brew Web site, was the committee member who first introduced Sheehan to the rest of the Acoustic Brew committee.

"I got the feeling that this person's different," Rito said.

Rito added that Sheehan has a unique style of playing the acoustic guitar.

"She's an unusual artist that you don't run into every day," he said.

Sheehan said she has put a lot of time studying with National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Heritage Fellowship awardees. She added that many people do not recognize that musicians from around the world and the United States are honored with these NEA Heritage awards for their contributions to American folk music and culture.

"They can be master drummers from Ghana or an African-American country blues singer," Sheehan said.

By studying with nine of these National Heritage fellows, Sheehan said she feels her music has a "real, authentic breath." DeYoung added that the completely acoustic setting of the performance fits Sheehan's music well.

"It's really intimate," he said.

DeYoung added that the venue doesn't need big speakers to set the scene.

"You can hear every nuance of the music without a sound system."

Sheehan said performing with just the acoustics in a smaller setting is a really exciting opportunity.

She added that her music, which is "independent of corporate tweaking," provides great diversity to listeners.

"Plus, it's just beautiful, warm acoustic music," she said.

Beach said he is excited to perform again with Sheehan in this setting.

"I think people who are interested in finding out where music came from and where it sits now will find it an interesting performance," he said.