The band The Clarks is a true rock music anomaly, a group whose lineup has remained intact for more than 30 years.

There are a few who stayed together longer — U2, Rush, ZZ Top — but only a few. Look at the other headliners on the Ribs-N-Rock Festival in Boardman for comparison. The lead singers are the only members of Candlebox and Sponge who were a part of their bands’ commercial peaks.

Scott Blasey, lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Rob James, guitar and vocals; Greg Joseph, bass and vocals; and Dave Minarik, drums and vocals, played the first Clarks’ gig in the 1980s and will be on stage together tonight.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world that I get to play with those guys,” Minarik said. “If Rob were anywhere else, he would be one of the biggest guitar players in the country.”

The band has kept its Pittsburgh / western Pennsylvania roots, and that’s one of the things Minarik credits for the band’s longevity.

“Pittsburgh is a very unique town,” he said. “Pittsburgh loves its heroes, be it sports heroes or television personalities or musicians. Pittsburgh doesn’t really care what the rest of the world is thinking.”

The Clarks have appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and had a song featured on “The Simpsons,” but the group never had that big national breakthrough. Still, it’s headlined many of Pittsburgh’s biggest concert venues and has built a regional following, including many shows in the Mahoning Valley over the years.

Minarik admitted there have been times when he didn’t think the band would survive this long. Around the release of “Restless Days” in 2009, he thought that might be the end, too many years of pushing each other’s buttons.

Instead of it being the end, “We rekindled that friendship, and it’s better than it’s ever been,” Minarik said.

He believes that attitude can be heard on the band’s new album, “Madly in Love at the End of the World,” released earlier this month. Instead of recording their parts separately, the band members recorded together with producer Dave Hidek in a former church turned recording studio.

“It was nice getting back to the way we used to do it,” he said.

The album has a distinct A side / B side feel, with the six tracks written by Joseph leading off the album, followed by the five songs penned by Blasey. There’s also a more Americana / country feel to Joseph’s songs with pedal steel work by Gary Jacob prominently featured on several tracks.

“‘Restless Days’ is when Gary first played with us, and we’d ask him out for the larger shows were were doing,” Minarik said. “I don’t know if Greg consciously wrote songs with pedal steel in mind, if he had in mind, ‘How is Gary going to fit in, how is the pedal steel going to fit in?'”

But Minarik said the band always has been a fan of alt-country acts like Jason and the Scorchers and the Rainmakers, and those influences always have been a part of the band’s sound.

Jacob isn’t the only one who has joined the original quartet in the studio and on stage. Skip Sanders is featured on Hammond organ and Minarik’s son, Noah, now plays guitar with the band.

“He’s been with us off and on about four years now,” the proud father said. “It’s awesome to share that experience with your kids and see them surpass you as a musician.”