Next week’s performance at the Mauch Chunk Opera House will be one more show in a four-decade-spanning career, as Wishbone Ash brings its harmonic vocals and duo guitar to the intimate theater’s stage at 8 p.m. Sept. 23.

“We’ve built a nice audience in Jim Thorpe. It’s a great venue. We feel the excitement and hospitality of the crowd,” said the band’s frontman Andy Powell.The United Kingdom based-band has updated its lineup over the past few years with Powell on guitar and lead vocals since 1969, Bob Skeat on bass since 1997, Muddy Manninen on guitar since 2004, and newest member Joe Crabtree joining the band in 2007 on percussion.All four members lend their vocal talents to create a full melodic sound that is created to “draw in the listener’s ear,” said Powell.The unique moniker was developed at the band’s start.“We wanted a name that didn’t tie us down like ‘Black Sabbath.’ We wanted a name to be able to be free with our music so we just wrote down words and came up with Wishbone on one list and Ash on another. It’s got a nice alliteration in only a few words.”Since forming in 1969, the band has released 29 albums and live recordings.“We are just one of those bands with a deep catalog and have been touring for 47 years,” said Powell.In its youth, the group averaged a new recording every two years, only slowing down in the ’90s when new work was released every four years.“It has more to do with the record business,” he said. “It’s changed drastically, the golden era was in the ’70s and we were riding the wave.”“I will say for a vintage band like us, we put out a lot. We have DVDs and live recordings. We put out a live show last year directly on vinyl.”Powell says there is a new fondness for the medium.“I think the younger generation appreciates it because it gives you a chance to really take the time to listen in depth. A good turntable has a warmer quality. I myself will get a glass of wine and put a vinyl record on and relax.”The warm quality Powell describes lends itself perfectly to the retro-flower power sound that Wishbone cultivated as the foundation of its writing.“It’s very melodic. We do a lot of vocal harmony and guitar duo harmonies. That’s how we write songs, I think that’s why people like it, there’s a lot of meat on the bones,” he said.According to the vocalist, the Jim Thorpe audience can expect selections from every decade of the band’s history.“We are calling this the ‘Take it Back Tour,’ and we are playing songs from deep in the catalogs. It’ll be some different aspects of the band really.”Powell said he looks forward to playing a new twist on the 1980s song “Open Road.”“We are giving it a modern treatment. It gives us a chance to really stretch out as a band.”Though Powell credits the band’s longevity to the fan-base, it’s the way the group honors its musical origins on every song that keeps fans interested.Most Wishbone offerings open with a hypnotic guitar riff before being broken into with well thought-out lyrics.“A song can come from a jam session or a melody on an acoustic guitar. Sometimes while traveling you make some observation or a song title might strike you as an interesting idea. The key is to be open in your mind that something could be art.”That sentiment describes the band’s music to the letter.In the 1973-released song “Blowin’ Free,” the band introduces music appreciators to a hybrid of rhythmic rock instruments and pop-esque lyrics. As if early Beatles joined the Eagles for an album that invites the listener to turn up the volume and feel the bluesy mixed-genre vibes.The band is able to maintain that lighthearted talent well into its latest studio album, “Blue Horizon,” put out in 2014.“Tally Ho” could easily be found on a pirate-themed Pink Floyd album without the strung-out undertones characterized in many classic-rock songs.Wishbone has been playing a venue nearly every night since beginning the tour in early September. The group will wrap up the second leg of its tour in the U.K. at the start of next year.“We have an amazing fan base,” Powell reiterated.Also at the opera house• Sept. 24, Les Dudek, 8 p.m.• Oct. 1, Ted Vigil’s John Denver tribute, 8 p.m.• Oct. 7, Adam Ezra Group, 8 p.m.• Oct. 8, Hollywood Nights Bob Seger tribute, 8 p.m.• Oct. 13, The Whigs, 8 p.m.• Oct. 14, Dala, 8 p.m.• Oct. 15, Eaglemania, 8 p.m.• Oct. 21, The Ten Band, 8 p.m.The opera house is located at 14 W. Broadway in Jim Thorpe. Tickets are available 24/7 at

www.mcohjt.com, by visiting Soundcheck Records in downtown Jim Thorpe or by calling 570-325-4009. The box office is open from noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at 570-325-0249. The venue is open from noon until 5 p.m. on show days. Tickets are available for most shows at the door.