Being a child prodigy is rarely such a comfortable fit.

Propelled into the music business at age 9 after buying a $5 guitar at a garage sale, electric slide guitarist Derek Trucks spent the subsequent two decades sharpening skills that take most guitarists more than a lifetime to acquire.

Supported by five musicians who provide vocals, percussion, keyboard, bass and drums, Trucks will perform with the Derek Trucks Band Sunday at the State Theatre, in a show featuring special guest Arizona. This will be Trucks' second stop in State College in the past month, following his appearance with the Allman Brothers Band at October's "Change Rocks" benefit concert.

Trucks, 29, a member of both the Derek Trucks Band and the Allman Brothers Band, was stage-left during the benefit show, strumming his signature devil horned red Gibson SG, a guitar he first picked up when he was 11.

Trucks is the youngest person on Rolling Stone's illustrious "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list. He said he was greatly influenced by early Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Elmore James and the three kings of blues guitar: Freddie King, Albert King and B.B. King. Other inspirations arose when he first studied and practiced certain genres, including jazz (saxophonist John Coltrane), blues (Howlin' Wolf), soul (Aretha Franklin) and Indian music.

Surrounded by a hereditary network of talent, he formed an intimate relationship with the guitar. Trucks said his father used to show him pictures of Duane Allman and taught him how to play guitar. His uncle, drummer Butch Trucks, was an original member of the Allman Brothers Band and eased his entrance into the music industry.

"It is best to be in the background and learn from the people around you," Trucks said. "I've been around amazing musicians -- some people that wrote the book."

Regardless of age, balancing work and family has always posed an obstacle, alternating between symbiotic to incompatible.

Trucks said his wife Susan Tedeschi, a singer-guitarist in the Susan Tedeschi Band, makes sporadic appearances in his busy schedule. She performed at the "Change Rocks" show last month, providing vocals. Tedeschi also formed the 11-piece ensemble with Trucks, entitled the Soul Stew Revival, a conglomeration of their two respective bands.

Despite these appearances in each other's tours, Trucks said either himself or his wife is typically home taking care of their son and daughter while the other is touring.

"It can be a difficult juggling act," Trucks said. "We both understand the impulse that makes us do what we do and understand each other's language."

In January, the Derek Trucks Band, which Trucks formed in 1994 when he was 14, plans to release its seventh album, Already Free, a follow-up to 2006's Songlines, in which the band featured a new lead singer, Mike Mattison.

With preparation for a new record came completion of a new studio in Trucks' home. His band bought an old sound recording consul from London that belonged to the Kinks frontman Ray Davies It is now a component of his renovated recording studio, Trucks said.

Each day the band recorded for the album, four to five musicians who are friends of his stopped by Truck's house to pitch in, Trucks said. Dropping his kids off at school in the morning, Trucks returned home and worked with his band to write, rehearse, record and mix a track before the day was done.

"It was a pretty magical time and I'm really proud of it," said Trucks, who served as a first-time producer.

He described the sound as organic, natural and homegrown but also rich with depth. He said listeners will definitely pick up on subtleties and rhythms they missed on the first listen.

"We had the freedom to do anything we wanted at any hour," Trucks said. "No record company was breathing down our necks. Now that we have the studio, I think most of the records will be like this."

Whether Trucks is standing at the forefront of a band, off to the side or in the background, his voice via guitar is heard. Throughout his career, his goal has been to be challenged, such as when he played slide guitar in several recording sessions for an Eric Clapton album in 2006 and toured with him in 2007.

"The Clapton gig was amazing," Trucks said. "I brought tunes to the table. I couldn't dictate but I could influence [the final product]."

Ever since he was invited to join the Allman Brothers Band in 1999, musical expression was very much a peace-love free-for-all among the eight-piece assembly.

"In the Allman Brothers [Band], there is no clear leader at this point," Trucks said. "You can lead at any point if you decide to take charge."

Students who have seen Trucks in the past performing with various artists have been consistently enthralled with the wide range of musical genres the artist performs.

Nick Claude (freshman-psychology) has seen Trucks perform live three times in the past year. He first saw him share the stage with Clapton at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

"At that point I didn't know who he was and I heard him play and wondered, 'Where the hell did he come from?'" Claude said. "His music hits me in a special way. I really like Southern and blues rock. He puts it all in the picture and has an exotic Persian-Indian style. He can manipulate the sound he makes out of the guitar."

After seeing Trucks live with the Allman Brothers Band a couple of times, Steve Catania (sophomore-electrical engineering) hopes to see Trucks and his band perform at the State Theatre.

"I get chills with his music," Catania said. "He puts all this feeling into his playing and 100 percent effort goes into his music. He plays with such energy."

Kristy Cyone, the State Theatre marketing director, said when the Derek Trucks Band visited the venue last November, the sextet did a great job with the stage setup and crowd interaction.

"There was the crowd of younger kids who recognize his music with the Derek Trucks Band, guitarists who really appreciate his music and the older crowd who know him from the Allman Brothers Band," Cyone said.

Trucks said he is grateful the road hasn't been as tough on him as it has for some.

He said he never had to give up parts of himself, revamp his lifestyle or become a "musical mercenary" to gain public recognition.

"You have to figure out what's important to you and why you're doing what you're doing," Trucks said. "I didn't have to concern myself with anything other than the music that moved me."