Bob Elston is just one year shy of his 50th anniversary as a country music performer.

From his days on the Curly O’Brien television show to four decades with the Roadranger Band, the Clinton resident has worked to foster interest in and access to traditional country music in Maine.

No offense to Keith Urban or Toby Keith, but today’s country music isn’t your granddaddy’s country music.

“We want to protect, promote, preserve and perform classic country music in the state of Maine,” said Elston, president of the nonprofit Maine Academy of Country Music.

The MACM, 369 members strong, was founded in November 2002. It is one of several country music organizations statewide, one that Elston says is dedicated to the music made famous regionally by the likes of O’Brien, Dick Curless, Hal Lone Pine and Yodelin’ Slim Clark.

The MACM will hold its first major event of the year, an outdoor classic country music festival, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the Weeks Mills Music Festival Grounds on the North Pond Road in Albion. A tent will be set up on the grounds, so the event will be held rain or shine. Tickets for the festival, which will feature performances by MACM members, are $10 for non-MACM members, and includes a potluck dinner.

Elston cites the disconnect between an aging segment of Maine’s population that grew up on traditional country fare and a music media that has gone in a more modern direction as a primary reason for the MACM’s existence.

“The radio stations don’t play the music anymore, and it’s getting harder and harder to find venues to perform classic country music,” said Elston, a member of the Maine Country Music Association Hall of Fame.

The MACM aspires to develop venues and opportunities to stage traditional country concerts, in part with the senior population in mind.

“We try to schedule concerts on Sunday afternoons or early evenings, and to keep the price of the tickets down from the $30 or $40 you have to spend to go to a concert these days,” he said.

Elston said the MACM is planning several additional events, among them a talent contest and a senior citizens’ holiday party.

“Our motto is it’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about the music,” said Elston. “We try to keep everything focused on traditional country music.”

For more information about the Maine Academy of Country Music, call Elston at 426-9580. Ernie Clark can be reached at eclark@bangordailynews.net.