True Twang : The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has created a country sound that’s an American gumbo of folk, bluegrass and rock ‘n’ roll.

The only thing worse than salsa (Mexican) music and jazz is country music, right? Well, not to an increasing number of people, despite the fact that most of these recent country converts and weekend wahoos wouldn’t know the difference between John Wayne and Wayne’s World. Garth, Billy Ray and Dwight have helped to push the pointy shoe crowd to the heights of the music biz--even higher than a two-story skyscraper in Bakersfield.

No Johnny-Joes-come-lately jumping on the hay wagon, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been perfecting that twang since the ‘60s, or when LBJ was still making dawgs howl in the White House. In 1969, when most musicians were getting psychedelicized, the NGDB was appearing in the film, “Paint Your Wagon.” They had their first hit two years later with “Mr. Bojangles,” since covered by many. Their landmark album, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” came out in 1973; a second volume followed in 1989. Their resume stretches longer than the line at the coroner’s office in a Clint Eastwood western.

The band’s latest, “Not Fade Away,” features the Buddy Holly biggie of the same name plus seven originals. You can bet the ranch that the NGDB will play the Buddy song, and possibly a few others, when they take the big stage at the venerable Ventura Theatre on Friday night. With 26 albums to their credit, the band could probably play as long as the Grateful Dead and longer than the Beach Boys, the other two American bands with equally lengthy careers.

From a pay phone in Nashville, the former Californian vocalist and guitarist Jeff Hanna discussed his fellow Dirt dudes.

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How’s “Not Fade Away” doing and how’d you happen to choose that song?

It’s doing all right. We’re all big Buddy Holly fanatics. Earlier, we recorded “Rave On” and “Oh Boy,” and we’ve been playing “Not Fade Away” at sound check for years and just decided to record it.

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How many albums does the band have?

Oh, something like 25, although some of them like “Uncle Charlie” are no longer available in this country.

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Are you guys on that old endless tour like those old black blues dudes?

No, we have breaks. That’s why we still play together. It’s been, let’s see, 26 years now. We usually stop around Thanksgiving and pick it up again in January.

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Haven’t you guys played the Ventura Theatre before?

You’d have to check with the management, but I think it was about three years ago. It’s a great place to play. We usually don’t go back into a town for at least a year or so. That way, it’s fresh, interesting and fun.

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So did you live in California long enough to love those Dodgers?

I never was a Dodger fan. I was born in Detroit, and I’m a Tigers fan. I grew up in Long Beach, then moved back to Colorado in the ‘70s; that’s when we all started scattering. The drummer, Jimmie Fadden, lives in Florida; the keyboard player, Bob Carpenter, lives in L. A.; and Jimmy Ibbotson and I live in Nashville.

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Rock shows never start on time. How about Nitty Gritty Dirt Band shows?

Ours do. If there’s a delay, it’s the venue that either wants to cram a few more people inside or sell a few more beers. We got over that rock star stuff a long time ago.

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What was it like playing in Russia back in 1977?

It was very interesting. The Cold War was still going on then. There were a lot of guys with trench coats following us around; and the beer was warm and weird. We played something like 26 gigs in 30 days, but never got to meet Brezhnev. We got the gig from the State Department; apparently someone had seen us when we did a gig in Washington, D. C. So the State Department called us up, but we thought it was a joke. Our manager hung up on them. When we went back in 1989, things were really different.

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Your band has always had that twang, but according to your bio, the band made a commitment to country in 1983. Why?

Basically, it was because country radio was beginning to play the kind of music we’d been playing for a long time. Our music had become mainstream by then, when before, we were played on rock radio. We’re still happy to have a radio home. We’ve got some fans that think we fell off the face of the Earth in the early ‘80s, while other fans only know of us after that.

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How do you account for the popularity of country music today when half the fans don’t know the difference between John Wayne and Wayne’s World?

It’s interesting, quite a phenomenon, particularly the last couple of years. I’ve been scratching my head about that one. I scratch my head about everything. I guess it’s because country music is song-oriented for the most part, and it’s good for people who are fans of songs.

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How would you describe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band music?

It’s still country rock with some folk, bluegrass and some rock ‘n’ roll. It’s an American blend, pretty much of an American gumbo.

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What’s the coolest thing about being in the band?

Well, playing is great, but the other 22 hours aren’t so great. Traveling and being away from my family is the worst thing.

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What was your strangest gig?

A long time ago we opened for Jack Benny at Purdue University. Two days later, we went on tour with the Doors. Hey, I’ve got to wind this thing up . . .

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OK, man; so where did the name of the band come from?

I wish I had a good story for you. It came to me in a dream.

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So what’s next?

Let’s see. We’ll just keep touring through ’93.