Netherfriends: Photo by Sarah Koch

Remember when Sufjan Stevens claimed he was going to make an album about each state in the country? He has since admitted that the idea was more of a promotional joke than anything, which may explain why he seemingly quit after only finishing four percent of the project. Equally as ambitious but maybe slightly more practical is Shawn Rosenblatt.

The songwriter records and performs under the name Netherfriends, a lush, psych-folk project in which he employs a rotating cast of collaborators. Back in April he set out on a solo tour with the goal of visiting all 50 states, writing a new song in each one and finishing within a year. He expressed his intentions on his blog back in December, and while he anticipated the Sufjan Stevens comparisons, he's since explained that he doesn't plan to write songs about the states, just in them. So far he's got 22 states notched, and, according to this interview with Prefixmag.com, he'll be adding Alaska to the list in September. Update: Rosenblatt dropped us an e-mail and said he has a gig lined up at UAF on either Sept. 17 or 18.

Others have given this 50 state thing a shot, and the Onion's A.V. Club gauged Rosenblatt's chances for success by analyzing where most of the others have fallen short. Their advice: Don't wimp out, be willing to pander and know how many states there are.

Trivia time! Three states have official state rock songs. Can you name them?

--Matt Sullivan