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It's been a full four decades since Boston released its seminal self-titled debut album, and the band is going on an anniversary tour — including a Saturday stop at USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City — to commemorate the milestone.

Guitarist Gary Pihl, who joined Boston in 1985 and is its second-longest-tenured member, said the group's enduring popularity is a direct byproduct of guitar virtuoso and band mastermind Tom Scholz's songwriting ability.

"Forty years really speaks to the power of the songs that Tom Scholz wrote way back then," Pihl said in a telephone interview. "People just loved them and related to them and still want to hear 'em. And we still love playing 'em."

Pihl first got to know Scholz when he was working as a guitarist for Sammy Hagar's solo band, which opened for Boston at various points between 1977 and '79. Then when Hagar got a call from Van Halen in '85, Pihl got one of his own.

"Tom Scholz called me and said, 'Hey, I heard you're out of a gig. Why don't you come back here and help me finish the third Boston album — there's one more song to be recorded,' " Pihl said. "And I left from our last gig with Sammy, which was Farm Aid 1 out in Champaign, Ill., and flew directly to Boston to start working with Tom. … And so I've been here ever since. I wasn't out of work for a day! How lucky can a guy get?"

And while Pihl has good memories of his time with Hagar ("He's a great musician, a wonderful singer, he's always ready to party, always in a good mood, so it was a lot of fun working with him"), he said he knew he'd stumbled into something great when he got his new gig.

"Tom always shows up on that list of '100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time,' but he also shows up on the list of '100 Greatest Keyboard Players of All Time.' You throw in '100 Greatest Rock Songs,' and some of the songs he's written always show up there," Pihl said. "He's designed the amplifiers that we're still using onstage. He's a really special guy, and this is a really unique situation."

That last part is unquestionably true.

Despite starting in an era when it was standard practice for a band to release new material every year, Scholz is famously (or infamously, if you ask the former record label that once sued him) methodical and firmly insistent on proceeding at his own pace, and so Boston has put out a mere six studio albums in its 40 years of existence. The band's most recent album, 2013's "Life, Love & Hope," came 11 years after its predecessor.

Given that, Pihl acknowledged that while there is more original material in the works, he is unsure when — or if — it might see the light of day.

"We always are working on new stuff. We're all musicians and/or songwriters, although Tom's really the successful one! We're always thinking of new stuff, 'cause that's what we do, we're musicians," he said. "We're always noodling around and playing riffs and, 'Hey, check this out!' We always have a good time doing it. Whether it'll show up on a record, it's hard to say, but we always keep working on it."

In the meantime, Boston and its fans keep showing up for live shows. Pihl said Saturday's concert at USANA will feature "certainly all the hit songs that people know and love to hear … but also some deep cuts."

He has a particular favorite he loves playing live.

" 'Walk On' — the title song from our fourth album — is a long song, and it's kind of difficult to play, but we all get a chance to improvise in that one, so that's always a lot of fun, and, of course, you never know what you're gonna get," he said. "One night somebody will play something a little differently, and we'll all feed on that and take it to a different place. I think the audience appreciates that too."

In the big picture, celebrating a 40th anniversary (while overlooking the fact that Scholz has, for a long while now, been the only remaining original member) might inspire introspection into how much longer the band intends to continue. Pihl said there's no cause for Boston fans to worry.

"People ask that of Tom, and he says, 'Man, I'm having a great time.' And me, too. And of course people ask if you get tired of playing the same songs over and over, and I say, 'Well, I would have got tired if I had to sit in my living room and play the songs,' but you stand up onstage and look out into the audience, and people smile and sing along — I tell you, I still get chills! That's just such a great feeling. I hope it never ends," he said. "You look at bands like the [Rolling] Stones and you figure, 'Hey, if they can still do it, then so can we.' To get out in front of an audience, it just transcends. We don't think about the technique of playing as much as the experience of being there."

Apparently, the rush of getting out onstage remains more than a feeling.

Twitter: @esotericwalden —

Boston

With Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx

When • Saturday, June 25; doors at 6 p.m., show at 7:30

Where • USANA Amphitheatre, 5200 S. 6200 West, West Valley City

Tickets • $31-71; Smith's Tix; USANA Amphitheatre box office