Most people know that the United States is made up of fifty states. However, few people know a lot about all fifty of them. Sufjan Stevens is a young American musician. He wants to change this situation. Sufjan Stevens plans to make an album about each of the fifty American states. During college he played in several musical groups and recorded an album of his own music. However, he wanted to be a writer, not a musician. So after college he moved to New York City to study writing. In New York. Stevens had trouble writing stories. He discovered that he missed music. He also discovered that most of the stories he did write were about his home state of Michigan. So, Sufjan Stevens decided to make an album of songs about Michigan. Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State was released in 2003. The album was a big success. Many young people and music critics liked it. Before long, Stevens announced that he wanted to make an album for every state. He called it his "fifty states project". Stevens chose Illinois as his next state. He read many books about Illinois. He studied police documents and old newspapers. He talked to people who live in the state. The CD Illinois was released in 2005. Critics loved the album. It won many awards. Illinois became popular at colleges throughout the United States. People said the CD sounded different from anything else they had ever heard. Sufjan Stevens is keeping his next state a secret from reporters. People have said that he is writing about Oregon, Rhode Island, or Minnesota. However, no one but Stevens knows for sure. What did Sufjan Stevens do to make an album of songs about a state?
He played in several musical groups. He studied documents and newspapers and talked to people there. He moved to New York City to study writing. He kept his next state a secret from reporters.