Biography

Hailing from the Philadelphia area, State grew up playing alto and tenor sax in his middle and high school's jazz bands.  This preceded a short stint in his university's symphonic band until coursework and volunteer firefighting began to take over the majority of his time.  Despite that he soon put a band of his own together in which he played lead guitar and sax.  When this folded it was time to write and sing songs on his own. 

While participating in earthquake research in Los Angeles as an intern he secured a show at the Pig 'N Whistle on Hollywood Boulevard, a former hangout of golden age Hollywood movie stars near the Egyptian and Chinese theaters.  He was given the opportunity by Mike Giangreco, a longtime booker/promoter at the Whisky a Go Go (venue central to The Doors' origin story) on the Sunset Strip who was responsible for giving a number of acts that would go on to be well known their first gigs.

After arriving back in Philadelphia music took a back seat to other career aspirations post college. He returned to performing in early 2024 and quickly got back up to speed, focusing on making in person connections. Since then he’s played at songwriter events and festivals in New York City as well as Martin Guitar’s hometown festival in Nazareth where they are headquartered. A current analysis of his sound includes hints or healthy servings of soul, blues, Americana, outlaw country, grunge, and alternative genres.

Looking forward he would like to continue spreading out geographically while maintaining relationships in the places he's already been.  In his free time you can find State reading a book, climbing a mountain, or snapping a picture.  However in reality most of his free time is spent in the car traveling to the next venue somewhere over the horizon.  State, coming soon to a town near you.