While most touring bands attempt to put on the best show they can for their fans and audience, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers have a different personal motto for performances: "Dare to suck."

Bandleader Stephen Kellogg assures that this doesn't make the group any sort of avant garde performance collective. The singer says he just wants to give fans something more than your typical rock band performance.

"If you're always afraid of screwing up, you'll never get anything brilliant," Kellogg said.

"We'd rather have a train wreck than a really safe set."

As such, Kellogg said his band never plays the same set twice.

His band will be bringing this disposition along with label mates Carbon Leaf and opener Dawn Landes, tonight to the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., as part of The Bear Rhymes with Woman Tour.

The name of the current tour is an amalgamation of recent albums from its two headliners, Carbon Leaf's Nothing Rhymes with Woman and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers' The Bear.

Carbon Leaf lead singer Barry Privett said the tour aims to not only showcase the two bands but also be a new take on a rock show setup.

The two bands will have all of their equipment on the stage for both of the sets.

This is so that when one band finishes playing, the next will begin almost immediately.

"One of the things we don't like about shows is the set change, so when one band finishes, the next comes out," Privett said.

In addition to this, band members will occasionally be seen accompanying their tour mates on stage.

The final encore will feature all members of both bands, Privett said.

The two bands have known each other for years and had the idea of touring together for quite some time -- and Privett said the endeavor has been a lot of fun so far.

Carbon Leaf, who has been a band for 16 years, takes influence from genres as diverse as roots, rock, pop, and even Celtic music.

Band members switch instruments freely, which adds another interesting dynamic to the group's sound.

For example, the song "On Any Given Day" previously featured Carter Gravatt on guitar, but she now plays the song with a banjo, giving a different feel, Privett said.

The band at one point attempted to make its Celtic influence more dominant but has since toned down that aspect, cutting Privett's bagpipe from the performance.

"There was a time when we tried to bring that into the set," Privett said. "It's tough to maintain if you don't practice that everyday. And it's not like you can play that in the corner really quietly."

Though the band started its career in a Virginia college town, Privett said his band is apt to play anywhere these days.

"There's no distinction, really," Privett said.

"If you got a room full of people, it doesn't matter if they're 13 or 70. Our shows really do have that kind of a range in the audience."

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers have also made changes to the group's structure, and unlike Carbon Leaf, the band has expanded its sound.

The group, formerly a trio, upped its membership to four this year with the addition of guitar player Sam Getz. Kellogg was pleased with the decision to add the musician.

"The rest of the band has been together for years, so it takes a special person for us to say, 'You're in,'" Kellogg said. "We're kicking more ass than ever."

Though a much younger band, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers have had many experiences influence its members' perspectives of playing music and help the way the group tours, Kellogg said.

Earlier this year, the group did a tour of military bases overseas, bringing a reminder of home to families of troops, Kellogg said.

"It's about how you can bring joy to people through music and not play to be cool or for money," Kellogg said. "It puts your ego in check -- not that we were huge egomaniacs before."

Kellogg, a father of two, said his paternal viewpoint has also informed his career and helped him realize the need to leave behind a good legacy.

The group wastes no nights on the road, keeping the artistry of what they do the main focus at all times, Kellogg said.

"Having kids sounded like something I'd do way down the line, but it's like the biggest doorway into love ever," Kellogg said.

"Take whoever you've loved most in your life and times it by five."

Kellogg described himself as "a big reader" and said that these sorts of feelings are things he has found expertly expressed in great literature.

Formerly a devout Dostoyevskian, Kellogg said he more recently has been turned on to the novels of Charles Dickens, something he had always looked past.

After getting more closely acclimated with these works, Kellogg said he felt like Dickens understood his every emotion.

These novelists, Kellogg said, definitely inform an aspect of the band's writing style.

"To me, what makes for timeless writing is when someone writes in any time or period what will always be true for everyone," Kellogg said.

"I'm not so big on cleverness. I want our shows to be entertaining, but I also want people to be wiser."

Kellogg describes the sound of his group as a combination of Americana and rock 'n' roll -- sort of like a combination of Ryan Adams and Bon Jovi or The Band and Guster, he said.

Opening the show tonight will be Dawn Landes, a folk musician who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Though she just got off tour with a three-piece band in Europe, she will be performing with only one other guitar player.

This is because of how much equipment the two headliners will have on stage, she said.

"It's definitely more fun to rock out, but it's also nice to have a little breather," Landes said.

The performer said she is a fan of both folk and country as well as indie rock, citing artists like Tom Petty and Pavement.

Summarizing exactly what the style she plays, however, is a bit more involved.

"I guess if I was in a cab in a foreign country, I would say country folk rock," Landes said.

"I'm not trying to do anything specific -- just make some noise."

Landes, who also does work as a recording engineer and has her own studio, said she has also done work scoring some films.

While working on her album, Landes said she spent so much time in the studio that she often stayed there overnight instead of taking the long ride back home.

"It felt like I was homeless because I was in the studio so much," Landes said.