Normally, there's a strong scent of pierogies and sausage at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern, but on Saturday night it's going to smell like teen spirit.

A handful of local bands are assembling there for a tribute to Nirvana that will blitz through the ragged wonders of the Kurt Cobain repertoire, from the raw "Bleach" to the transcendent "MTV Unplugged" session.

It was organized by John Huffman, a big Nirvana fan and a former member of The Flash Darlings now playing bass for the new band Bowhunter.

"Nirvana was one of my biggest influences growing up in the 1990s," Huffman says. "I was 12 years old when 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' hit big all over MTV in 1992. Nirvana, Beck, The Violent Femmes and Juliana Hatfield all hit me at about the same time that year and I can credit them all for influencing me to pick up the guitar and the bass that year. Nirvana was at the forefront of the group I listed as far as intensity and anger, so they quickly became my favorite."

Cobain, who would have been 41 next month, took his life in violent and dramatic fashion on April 5, 1994, at the height of the Seattle band's popularity. His suicide note quoted, and took too much to heart, the enigmatic Neil Young lyric, "It's better to burn out than to fade away."

If he's looking down now, Cobain knows that Nirvana has hardly faded away. Radio stations still spin its songs, countless bands still try to imitate its sound and posthumous releases keep the fan base engaged. The latest project was "About a Son," a documentary about Cobain told in his words, based on conversations with journalist Michael Azerrad. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, and finally arrives on DVD Feb. 19.

This Pittsburgh tribute jumps in before the anniversaries of his birth and death with Nirvana covers by the Weird Paul Rock Band, the Maxi-Pads, Bowhunter, My Prodi, Devin Russian and the Flu Fighters (get it?), bands and musicians who are passionate about the cause.

"The first CD I think I ever got," says Jason Dignon of My Prodi, "was the 'Beavis and Butt-head' soundtrack with Nirvana's 'I Hate Myself and I Want To Die' on it, and I was totally freaked out. I started saving for drums immediately. Nirvana is my original inspiration."

We asked some of the musicians why they chose the songs they'd be playing:

Weird Paul (Weird Paul Rock Band): "I first heard Nirvana on Sept. 12, 1990. That was a night Manny Theiner and I were playing live on WRCT. Before we went on, Manny pulled out this record called 'Bleach' and put it on for me to hear. He played me the song 'School' and suggested I learn it immediately and we covered it that night on the air. We continued to cover it over the years, even as recently as 2003 at one of our reunion shows. So that's why I picked it to play for the tribute show, because I've been playing it for almost 18 years now!"

Joe Melba (Bowhunter): "Each of us picked one and all agreed on the fourth. I picked 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' [a Vaselines cover from 'MTV Unplugged'] because I thought that it would be a little different than the majority of what will be played [i.e., not real loud] and because I think it's a beautiful song, even though Nirvana didn't actually, you know, write it."

Katie Pegher (The Maxi-Pads): "We picked 'Molly's Lips' [another Vaselines cover] because it was arguably the simplest Nirvana song of all time -- two chords! We're also doing 'Drain You' -- because it's my favorite, and I did most of the picking -- and 'Sliver' because we thought it'd be funny/awesome to hear Kacyn screaming 'Grandma, take me home' over and over."

Devin Russian: "I didn't pick the songs. Huffman wanted to hear me play 'About a Girl' since I play acoustic and he liked the unplugged version. He mistakenly said this in front of my wife, who then blurted out that I need to play 'Heart Shaped Box.' I asked Jason Henry from Aaralyn if he would like to play drums, and he responded by saying only if I play 'Scoff.' So there you have it: 'About a Girl,' 'Heart Shaped Box' and 'Scoff.' I wish I had more control of my life."

Huffman (Bowhunter and drumming for Weird Paul): "I chose 'Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle' for Bowhunter and 'On a Plain' for Weird Paul Rock Band because both of those songs embody the raw intensity and power that drew me to Nirvana in the first place. It's nice to look across the whole catalog and see that even on the last album, the raw vigor of 'Bleach' is still present."