The list of people who have worked with both Bob Dylan and a member of the Beatles is a very short one.

But tonight at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., one of the members of that exclusive club, David Bromberg, will put his folk/blues-influenced rock guitar virtuosity on display. A classic example of the "musician's musician," Bromberg has earned the respect of his peers while straying just outside of wide success.

"He's been around for an awful long time, though he's been sort of semi-retired. If not semi-retired, then sporadic," Joe Apfelbaum, programming manager for the State Theatre, said. "He's a great guitar player -- the list of people he's played with, the esteem he's held in with guitar techniques."

Bromberg, who will play with his Angel Band as part of the State Theatre's Innovators Series, has re-emerged from obscurity with a new album, Try Me One More Time. After having released 12 albums in 10 years, Bromberg has only had four new albums since 1980.

"I moved to Delaware and started some jam sessions, found myself playing and enjoying it a lot," Bromberg said of returning to the public eye.

Bromberg said his reason for the semi-retirement was that he'd been touring excessively at one point staying on the road for two years without being home for two weeks.

But thanks to the respect his name carries within the music industry, Bromberg's genre-defying guitar skills have him back in State College. He said his popularity with other musicians came from his ability to create chemistry with them.

"I was a good accompanist," Bromberg said. "Hopefully I still am. I had an idea of how to play with someone."

Part of Bromberg's skill has been his versatility, changing between folk, blues, bluegrass, rock and country over the course of his career.

"I think for most of my career I made the mistake -- and I do believe it was a mistake -- of recording albums that contained every kind of music I wanted to play," he said. "It was commercial suicide looking back on it, not that it bothers me tremendously."

Apfelbaum said the intimate setting of the theater will allow the audience to get up-close and personal with Bromberg, who said he may mix some fiddle or mandolin playing with his guitar.

Bromberg said his versatility is a major feature of his live performances.

"I've never restricted myself to playing only songs that I've written," Bromberg said. "My attitude is, for the duration of the song, I own it, whether I wrote it or not. I also don't make set lists. I decide just before I go on what I'm going to start with."