Very few bands, aside from those that have attained super stardom, can thrive for nearly five decades. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, though, has done exactly that.The Dirt Band brings its distinct and influential sound — a acoustic mix of country, folk, and rock — to Stargazers Theatre and Event Center Monday night. The band plans to donate a portion of the show’s merchandise sales to Care and Share, to aid in wildfire relief efforts.In the multi-instrumentalist group, which was founded in 1966, pianist Bob Carpenter plays “anything with keys on it.” Carpenter joined the band officially in 1980, after working with them from time to time throughout the ’70s.Carpenter and the Dirt Band shared the same agent, and when his old band dissolved in 1977, he seized the opportunity to begin working in earnest with Nitty Gritty.”It worked out perfectly,” he says. “Unplanned, but perfect. The best things in life work out that way, I’ve found.”Here, Carpenter talks about the band’s work process, their connection to Colorado and one popular misconception.The Gazette: How much touring do you guys do these days?Bob Carpenter: The last couple years, we’ve been doing between 50 and 60 shows a year. This year, for some reason, more people want to hear the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Right now, we have 90 dates on the books, and we’re almost half way through them. We’ll be touring through the end of October, and then we’re done. We stay off the road in the wintertime. It’s just too problematic travelling. It’s just too stressful, so we don’t do it.Gazette: You get some time with family for the holidays, too.Carpenter: That’s the good part about the job. You’re gone a lot, but you’re home a lot. Which is really a fantastic way to do it.Gazette: Do you guys usually play in larger or smaller venues?Carpenter: In the spring and fall, especially when we’re back east, venues are smaller. We do performing arts centers and theaters. In the heart of the summer, we’re doing more outdoor stuff. Festivals, things like that. We do the bigger venues in the summertime.Gazette: What’s the creative process like in the band? Do you collaborate when you write? Or is it one or two guys who do the majority of the songwriting?Carpenter: The first term that comes to my mind is “helter skelter.” It’s never the same process two times in a row. Every project we do is shaped in a different way and started in a different way. I’ve written songs with everybody in the band. It varies from project to project.We all send stuff around to each other. The songs go into a big pile. Everybody listens to them. The producer has some ideas. It’s basically a weeding out process. Sometimes we’ll record a song, and it won’t make the record. Somewhere down the line, we maybe revisit that for a different project. It depends. Each album is different.Gazette: The band is known for having a lot of different lineups over the years. With new members coming in and out, does that affect your process?Carpenter: Well, the people who come in and play with the band are chosen because what they’re doing will fit what the band is about. A misconception about this band is that through the years of making records, there’s a lot of people that played on our records — and actually toured with the band — that weren’t ever members of the band.Although there’s a lot of names of people who have played in the band, there really haven’t been that many actual members. As you can imagine, in 46 years, there are going to be some changes. But the (four guys) that we’re recording with now has basically been the core ever since the band started. It’s pretty much the same.Gazette: Has the band’s sound evolved in a major way over those years?Carpenter: I think it’s evolved in the way that we’re better players and singers, because we’ve been doing it for so long. If you (compare our early and later records), you’ll get the same sort of vibe. I think that we’ve remained true to the vision of the band, which is story songs and acoustic instrumentation. I don’t think we’ve ever really wavered from that.Gazette: What genre do you think best describes your music?Carpenter: Well, the names of the genres have changed. I would say that two things come to mind. One is Americana, because we have a lot of influences from folk and country. The other is roots. Those two words probably best describe what we do.Gazette: You mentioned the band focuses on story songs. What kinds of stories do you try to tell in your music?Carpenter: They’re all based in people’s relationships. We’ve done a lot of songs that talk about the “simpler life.” We try to write songs that a lot of people can relate to. You have to sing and write about what you know, so that’s what we do. Otherwise, we’re being disingenuous.Gazette: What’s your favorite part about being in the band?Carpenter: Playing our shows. That’s what we live for. We love to take our fans on a little time travel. That’s what makes it worthwhile, for us to hear people’s personal stories about how they connect to the band. It’s also great to see families come out, because our music has been handed down over three generations.Gazette: What motivated you guys to donate to Care and Share?Carpenter: Well, we’ve all lived in Colorado. We know how awful it is that these people have to go through this thing. Anytime we can lend a hand, we like to do that. We consider Colorado sort of our first home, even though we’ve moved away. Everybody’s got to step up and do their share.

Photo by Courtesy of Clearview Artist Management