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	Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens began his musical career as a member of Marzuki, a folk-rock band from Holland, Michigan. He also played (and continues to play) various instruments for the Danielson Family. While in school at Hope College, Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album, A Sun Came, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records. While in New York, Stevens composed and recorded the music for his second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit, a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac that ventured into electronica. Sufjan Stevens followed this with the first of his ambitious "50 states" albums, a collection of folk songs and instrumentals inspired by his home state of Michigan. The result, the expansive Michigan ("Greetings from Michigan the Great Lake State") included odes to cities including Detroit and Flint, the Upper Peninsula, and vacation areas such as Tahquamenon Falls. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith in God, sorrow, love and the regeneration of Michigan. Following the release of Michigan, Sufjan Stevens compiled a collection of songs recorded previously into a side project, the Christian-folk album Seven Swans, which was released in March 2004. Next he released the second in the 50 states project, entitled Illinois or Come On Feel the Illinoise. Among the subjects explored on Illinois: the cities of Chicago, Decatur and Jacksonville; the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893; the state's (somewhat confusing and obscure) observance of a holiday in honor of Casimir Pulaski; the poet Carl Sandburg; and the serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. In September 2006 Stevens debuted a new composition, a 10+ minute piece titled "Majesty Snowbird".In November 2006, a five CD box set Songs for Christmas was released, which contains originals and Christmas standards recorded every year since 2001. Beginning with Michigan, Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, although in interviews he wavers between utter sincerity and self-deprecating irony when describing the idea. A multi-instrumentalist, Sufjan Stevens is well known for his use of the banjo, but also plays guitar, piano, drums, and several other instruments, often playing all of these on his albums through the use of multitrack recording. He studied the oboe and English horn, which he also plays on his albums. A multitude of instruments are played in unison to give his songs a "symphony-like" sound. Strings and horns are often prominent in many of his songs. Stevens announced that 21 pieces of music he had culled from the Illinois recording sessions would be incorporated into a new album, called The Avalanche which was released in July 2006. Sufjan Stevens‘ songs are sub-published by La Chunga in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and East Europe