Robin Trower was a famous guitar player before Jimi Hendrix died, but he didn't achieve comparable status as a musician until after the legend's departure.

Trower, former guitarist for the '60s British rock band Procol Harum and now a solo star, possesses a playing style has been compared many times to Hendrix.

Procol Harum opened for Hendrix at one point, and Trower says the late star had a definite effect on his musicianship.

"Hendrix was a big influence on me," Trower said. "I don't think the comparisons are fair to Jimi. He was a genius in a league of his own -- all players live in his shadow."

The renowned blues rock guitarist Trower still tours frequently many decades later and will be bringing his playing to The State Theatre at 8 tonight.

Trower, after jumpstarting to fame through Procol Harum, went on to achieve success in the '70s with a solo career, earning himself four gold albums.

"He's a top-100 guitarist," State Theatre executive director Mike Negra said. "He's a legend."

Trower has been releasing albums consistently throughout his career, the latest -- What Lies Beneath -- debuting earlier this year. He said most of the music he'll play tonight will be from his more popular older albums, but there will be some new songs.

For the show, he will use his familiar power trio lineup with vocalist Davey Pattison thrown in, Trower said.

"Having a three-piece band gives you more space to work in," Trower said. "It's limiting, but at the same time, gives you more freedom. I like the challenge of that."

This amount of control was something that he couldn't find in Procol Harum, forcing him to look for it elsewhere. After writing more songs, he realized there wasn't room for them in that band, Trower said.

"I had to get out and get my own space to do it," he said.

While tonight's show may be more appealing to older audiences who are more familiar with Trower's music, younger music fans would enjoy the event as well, Negra said.

"I think it'll be a 'Boomer' type crowd intermixed with a younger audience that appreciate and know that a lot of what they listen to now comes from people like Robin," he said.

Opening the evening's performance for Trower will be the Philadelphia-based Deb Callahan Band.

The group's eponymous front woman has been compared to blues and soul singers like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, and her band gives her voice a solid rock backdrop. She even covered a Ray Charles song on her most recent album.

"I tend to love blues that has a lot of soul in it," Callahan said. "I think of Ray Charles as a fusion of gospel, blues and soul. I think my music has more of a rock or jam sound than him."

Callahan said she has been performing for over 10 years, beginning at open-mic nights around Philadelphia and eventually getting her own band together and releasing albums.

While her band has changed over time, Callahan said she's been with her guitarist for eight years and her bass player for five. The group tours all over the eastern half of the country and plays about 125 shows a year.

The singer has a day job doing social work aside from her singing career, which she says gives her a different perspective on the world and has a definite effect on her music.

The song "Food on the Table" in particular was inspired by personal relationships with single mothers, said Callahan.

"I think its sort of a timely song in general in terms of the economy," she said. "There's sort of a struggle right now, and you hear it all the time."