Cris Jacobs brings "The Workingman's Dead" to the State Theatre's Attic on Jan. 14

The Baltimore roots player is back upstairs at the State in January, in a room that holds a few dozen people.

In mid-January in State College the students are barely back and the sidewalks on College Avenue are icy. It's a good time to climb the stairs at the State Theatre, and on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2027, at 8 p.m., Cris Jacobs is up there.

The State lists the show as Cris Jacobs: The Workingman's Dead, in The Attic, the theater's upstairs room. Tickets are on the State's own box office site. The billing is the hook: *Workingman's Dead* is the Grateful Dead album where the band went back to its folk roots, and the venue is putting Jacobs's name next to it. The listing doesn't say exactly what the night will be — whether he plays the record, his own takes on that material, or something looser. If you're going for the Dead songs specifically, check the event page as the date gets closer.

It's not a stretch for him either way. The venue describes Jacobs as a Baltimore-born roots musician who blends soul, rock, Americana and funk, and he's played Jerry Garcia material in Baltimore before, at a Garcia tribute where Greensky Bluegrass hosted the Cris Jacobs Band. His recent records lean the same way: in fall 2024 he toured 22 cities across the East Coast and Midwest behind *One of These Days*.

The Attic's maximum occupancy is 49. That isn't a typo.

The room is the other reason to go. The State's own specs put The Attic's maximum occupancy at 49, general admission. That's the kind of number where everyone ends up close to the player, the guitar is barely amplified, and the person next to you probably drove in from Bellefonte or Boalsburg for the same reason you did. Jacobs played the Attic as recently as May 2026, so he knows the room.

With 49 spots, this one won't take long to sell. If a folk-leaning, Dead-shaped night upstairs on College Avenue in January sounds like your kind of thing, don't wait.

Sources: The State Theatre: Cris Jacobs (thestatetheatre.org); The State Theatre: Calendar (thestatetheatre.org); The State Theatre: The Attic tech specs (thestatetheatre.org); The State Theatre tickets: Cris Jacobs (tickets.thestatetheatre.org); Wikipedia: Workingman's Dead (en.wikipedia.org); Relix: Cris Jacobs shares fall 2024 tour dates (relix.com)