Fans of soul, funk and jam bands are in for a treat tomorrow as The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave, will host two performers who got their starts when they were only kids.

Derek Trucks has been playing since he was 9 years old when he was exposed to music through his uncle's group, The Allman Brothers Band. He formed the Derek Trucks Band in 1994 when he was 15, before also joining his uncle's band as a guitarist.

"I think Derek Trucks is one of the greatest guitar players still playing today," Jared Newman (senior-public relations) said. "Musically, [the band] is so insanely talented. There aren't many bands doing what they're doing."

The band blends together rock, blues, jazz, funk and different types of world music to perfect its unique sound.

"Derek Trucks is just such a versatile guitarist. The stuff he plays is really complicated, yet he'll write completely different songs that have different feelings," Newman said.

Joe Apfelbaum, program manager for The State Theatre, said the band was booked after students said they were interested in seeing Derek Trucks live.

Opening for the Derek Trucks Band will be Ryan Shaw, an up-and-coming soul/funk/R&B singer.

"His voice is phenomenal. It has such a cool soul vibe to it," Newman said.

Shaw got his musical start singing for a church choir when he was 3 years old. As he grew up, he said he focused his singing talent as part of the Fabulous Soul Shakers, a musical group from Harlem, New York, that specialized in soul/blues music.

"We did a lot of stuff for Carnegie Hall and the neighborhood concert series. That group gave me my start," Shaw said.

Shaw recently made his late-night television debut on Last Call with Carson Daly and also appeared on the Martha Stewart Show.

Apfelbaum is also excited to experience Shaw's performance.

"He's got this real soulful voice," Apfelbaum said. "After we got Derek Trucks booked, they came back and asked us if we'd be interested in Ryan Shaw. We all took a listen and I started spreading it around to music folks in town here and they're actually really excited about it."

Shaw's debut album, This is Ryan Shaw, contains three original songs and covers Shaw handpicked.

Shaw describes his live show as "very energetic and a lot of dancing."