REO Speedwagon — from left, Bryan Hitt, Dave Amato, Kevin Cronin and Bruce Hall — have a new keyboard player (Derek Hilland, not pictured) and return to Youngstown for a concert Wednesday at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre. (Submitted photo)

Among classic rock acts from the ’70s that still are performing, REO Speedwagon had a remarkably stable lineup.

Kevin Cronin, lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano; Bruce Hall, bass and backing vocals; and Neil Doughty, keyboards and organ, were part of the band’s commercial peak in the late ’70s and ’80s, and Dave Amato, lead guitar and backing vocals, and Bryan Hitt, have been in the band since 1989.

Doughty, the only member of REO Speedwagon who had played every gig, announced his retirement from touring at the beginning of the year, forcing his bandmates to do something they hadn’t done for 34 years — pick a new band member.

But this is a band that knows a little something about rolling with the changes. Cronin talked about picking new keyboard player Derek Hilland, his recent appearance on “American Idol” and his duet with Dolly Parton on her upcoming rock album in a telephone interview ahead of the band’s concert Wednesday at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

TICKET: Tell me about the process of hiring Derek Hilland to join the band.

CRONIN: When I’ve got big decisions to make and feel like I need some counsel, I like to contact guys just not quite as handsome as me, so I naturally called Rick Springfield. Rick described him as an amazing piano and organ player and a beautiful and decent human being. That’s the kind of person we’re looking for, and Rick was right on all counts. He’s also a great singer, so that gives us an extra voice.

Our energy is renewed. Bringing someone new into the picture gives everybody a boost. He’s just a sweet, funny, unassuming guy. We really scored when we got Derek, and the band is playing better than ever.

TICKET: Did the process of getting Derek up to speed on your catalog make the band re-evaluate its approach on any of the songs?

CRONIN: You nailed it. The songs that we play constantly, we’ve been playing them for a long time and we know them. But when you get someone new in the band, you start going, “Wait, what if we do this here?” Honestly, we’re always tinkering on our songs just to keep them fresh for us.

When you make a record, the songs you’re playing are brand new. You don’t really know them yet. Songs are never finished. I’m always tinkering with them, always trying to find something new in the arrangement or the melody. I’ll figure out a chord change and think, “Why didn’t I think of this in 1987?”

Bringing Derek in is a breath of fresh air for sure.

TICKET: In some of the interviews I read preparing for this, you talked about Doughty being burned out, but you sound like you still love touring and performing. How have you avoided that burnout?

CRONIN: I’ve got the best job in the world. I get to write songs and then put the songs together and make a record. It’s an amazing feeling, taking a little song you made up and watching it blossom into a record.

Then, if you’re lucky enough to get played on radio, you get to hear it when you’re driving down the street. Then you get to go out on stage and play a song standing in front of any number of people, 2,000 or 25,000 or more singing the song back to you. There’s nothing else like it. I’ve been doing it all my life and can’t imagine my life without it. As long as I’m physically and mentally able to do it, I will.

During the pandemic, we were off the road a long time. I thought when we gear up and play again, it will have been 2 1/2 years since I’ve sung, I’m gonna be awfully rusty. My son Shane and his twin brother Josh have a band called Sir, Please. Shane told me about his vocal professor at USC (University of Southern California), where he just graduated, and I started working with Jeffrey Allen as my vocal coach.

For the last three years, I’ve seen Jeffrey at least twice a week every week and, dude, it’s changed my life. He took everything I thought I knew about singing, threw it out the window and turned it upside down. I never thought I would get it. Fortunately, during the pandemic, there was plenty of time. Little by little, it became my new way of singing. My voice doesn’t sound different, maybe a little more open, but I’m stoked to be able to sing the songs with this new kind of method behind it.

You just have to keep growing. That’s really what I’m learning about life. It doesn’t really matter how old you are. It matters how you feel. You’ve got to go to the gym. You’ve got to go to the doctor and get your physical. You’ve got to eat right. I’m not a teetotaller. I had a few glasses of wine last night. But as long as it’s in balance, you can stay young forever. As I say every night, rock ‘n’ roll will keep you young forever. That’s my belief.

TICKET: How was singing “Take It on the Run” on “American Idol” with Zachariah Smith last month?

CRONIN: He came out and really nailed the song. He did a great job. I was really impressed with the whole vibe of “American Idol.” The musical director, the producer, I thought they were going to try to fit me into a box of some kind, but it was the exact opposite — “We want you to talk to the band, if there’s something to you want to change, however you want to map out the duet is cool with us.” I had a really good time.

TICKET: I’ve talked to other classic rock musicians who’ve said they’re glad they came up in the music business when they did. Having had a good experience with “American Idol,” would you have liked starting out in this era of music competition shows?

CRONIN: Whoever it was that you were talking about, I agree 100 percent. I’m really grateful I was born at the exact right moment for someone who wanted to play in a band.

When I was 12 years old, I’d been playing guitar for about two years and didn’t really know why, and then the famous Beatles’ performance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” happened. I was just nailed to my seat. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I thought, “That’s exactly what I want to do,” but what are the chances of having a career like ours? It’s one in a million.

Those years of paying our dues and traveling around the country in a station wagon and playing some gnarly gigs along the way, being an opening act and getting stiffed by the headliner. You learn from all that. The “American Idol” experience kind of leapfrogs all of that.

I will say from talking to Zachariah, he’s learned a lot. It’s about a six-month process, so it’s not like they’re not learning anything. He has the opportunity now to parlay that success and notoriety on “American Idol” into a music career. It’s really easy to sit back and say, “Well, when we came up, those were the days when men were men.” I remember my dad having conversations like that.

The world is always changing and I try to keep up with what’s going on and not lose touch with where I came from. If you can find that balance, that’s the goal.

TICKET: I read an interview where you talked about being able to remember which songs did better in some markets than others, and how you’ll often call audibles in the set list to play those songs in those cities. Are there any songs that northeast Ohio might have embraced that could make it into the set list next week in Youngstown?

CRONIN: It’s a little more difficult now to be as free with the audibles as I once was because we have a new keyboard player in the band. As time goes on, Derek is learning more and more of the catalog. First thing we have to get a 100-minute set together, and that’s a lot for a person to learn. We’re also preparing for our Vegas residency, which starts in November, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.

But we’re into it. We do soundcheck every day now and I look forward to getting to soundcheck. I’m the first guy there. Today we’re working on “In My Dreams,” which is a song from our catalog that gets requested all the time. It’s always in our top 10 Spotify playlist, but it’s a really difficult song to play live, so we’re kind of tearing it apart and putting it back together.

We worked up “Keep the Fire Burning,” which is another fan favorite, but the people in Ohio, you all have been with us since the beginning.

What I’ll probably try to do is come up with one or two deep cuts for the people who have been seeing us since the ’70s. When we get into the Midwest — Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin — that whole area, we call that REO country. We love playing no matter where we are, but when we get into the Midwest, it’s just a whole different ball game. We’re like old friends to the people in the Midwest.

TICKET: Tell me about the duet you and Dolly Parton recorded of “Keep on Loving You” for her upcoming rock album?

CRONIN: My history with Dolly Parton is really fun. Back in 1988, she covered “Time for Me to Fly.” I got one of the advanced copies and when I put it on, I immediately thought someone turned my turntable from 33 to 78 rpm. Then I got into it. She took “Time for Me to Fly” and turned it into a hoedown with mandolin and fiddle. It was so much fun.

My initial connection with Dolly was this girl is fun, and sure enough, as iconic as she is, she is as down to earth as you want her to be. When you’re sitting there talking about a song or an arrangement, it’s just like you’re talking to some other person in a rock band. That’s just how Dolly operates. She’s the real deal.

(More recently, they recorded a duet version of “Time for Me to Fly” for possible use on the Netflix series “Ozark.”)

Our voices just had a good blend and a good rapport between us. When it came time to do her rock album, our manager and close friend, Tommy Consolo, was at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. He bumped into Dolly, one thing led to another, and here we are. Dolly cut “Keep on Loving You” and we dueted on it. I’m just happy to be mentioned in the same sentence.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but this album has 30 cuts. They put it out to everybody, thinking they’d get 12 responses, but everyone they approached said yes. And the list of artists — Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting — it’s just mind-boggling. I’m just happy to be included in there. And I will say this version is pretty strong. I’m really proud of it and really happy for her. I think this record is going to be amazing.

If you go …

WHO: REO Speedwagon and Levon

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, 201 S. Phelps St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $42.50 to $125 and are available at the Covelli Centre’s Southwoods Health box office and through Ticketmaster.