LEWISBURG -- Upon first experiencing the raw Zydeco, Soulgrass roots sound of Ithaca-based Blue Sky Mission Club (BSMC), many people's first response is "what type of music is this, because I've never heard anything like it." BSMC's sound features electric/lap/pedal steel, fiddle, accordion, scrub board, bass and drums and covers a wide audience demographic.

BSMC will be performing in Lewisburg on Jan. 23 from 6-9 p.m. as part of Martin Luther King Day in Larison Hall on the Bucknell University campus, and Jan. 24 beginning at 10 p.m. at the Town Tavern, Market Street.

BSMC has shared the stage with a number of international artists including Old Crow Medicine Show, Donna the Buffalo, Rusted Root, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka, The Avett Brothers, Buckweat Zydeco, and The Campbell Brothers.

The band includes Syracuse drummer Jeff Tripoli; London McDaniel, guitar and voice; Tonya Byham on vocals and scrub board; Rob Delphous on accordion and scrub board; Coleman Smith on fiddle and Frank Henry on bass.

They just finished a three-song EP that takes the roots rock vibe to neat places. "Dance with me Sister" adds horns and a light jazz feel to Byham's vocals. Their CD, "Riding The Horizon," has been called by the San Francisco Chronicle "a joyous celebration, a space of happy awakening and an infectiously funky hoe down."