The Hern Brothers Band will celebrate 40 years together with an outdoor concert on Saturday.

The band has had several guitar and bass players over the years, but the two constants since 1980 are the Hernandez brothers of Hubbard with Dave singing and playing keyboards and Rick Hernandez singing and playing drums.

“I think I’m safe in saying we may be lone ranger of rock bands in area” in terms of years together, Rick said. “We’ve never had a year of not performing in 40 years.”

Rick and Dave’s history of performing together actually goes back more than 40 years. Their father, Rick Hernandez Sr., led RH Factor, which was the house band at the Living Room in Warren and regularly played Cherry’s Top of the Mall in Niles in the ’70s. When RH Factor was on a break, the brothers would take the stage when they were 10, 11 years old and entertain with Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” or Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World.”

“That gave us a start as the Hern Brothers,” Rick said. “We took it from there and amplified things.”

The band isn’t as busy as it was in the ’80s, when it played several nights a week in the Mahoning Valley and surrounding area at long-gone venues such as the Youngstown Agora, Bonnie & Clyde’s, Scandals, Tin Pan Alley and Bombay Bicycle Club. But Rick said the band still averaged about a gig a week, at least until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the venues and special events where the band normally played.

That’s why they are celebrating the anniversary at Reynolds Drive In over the border in Transfer, Pa., with the current lineup, which also features Nick Conti on guitar and Ron Detell on bass. The band is re-releasing “Carbon Copy,” a CD of classic rock covers issued for their 20th anniversary, and the band created a special 40th anniversary T-shirt for Saturday.

“They approached us about doing a show,” Rick said. “Why make it just a show? Let’s make it an anniversary party. We’re bringing in some major production, more intense lighting. Basically, what we’re doing is putting everything into the production just as a thank you to the people who have followed us for years. This isn’t about any profit or moneymaking. It’s about putting everything into the show and giving the audience and fan base over the years something they can leave talking about.”

That may be different than the way the band has operated over the years. Rick credited the band’s longevity to its business-like attitude.

“It’s a business, a music business, and we’ve always treated it as such,” he said. “A lot of musicians have a love and passion for music. Where it gets lost is they start performing because they love it, but they don’t treat it as a business. They don’t think about the investment in instruments, the investment in production. They don’t factor in the amount of rehearsing you have to dedicate to perfecting the show.”

If you go …

WHAT: Hern Brothers Band 40th anniversary concert

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday with gates open at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Reynolds Drive In, 3706 N. Hermitage Road, Transfer, Pa.

HOW MUCH: $40 per carload (four people per car) in advance through Eventbrite, and $10 per person at the gate.