Texas trio ZZ Top to play Des Moines Civic Center on Sept. 17

ZZ Top, “That little ol’ band from Texas,” is back in a big way.

Although there’s no new album to peddle, the Houston-based boogie-woogie rock band is embarking on another raucous hoedown of a fall tour, which includes a stop at the Des Moines Civic Center on Sunday, Sept. 17.

Even though guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons has lost count of which leg it’s on for its ongoing Tonnage Tour, he and his bandmates, bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard (who has no beard), are looking forward to playing in the Iowa's capital city.

“The Midwest is called The Heartland for a good reason — folks in that special neck of the woods have a lot of heart … and soul,” Gibbons declared. “Even from our start more than four decades back, we’ve always felt welcomed in Des Moines, the heart of The Heartland, if you will.”

All the things fans know and love about ZZ are guaranteed to be present — fuzzy beards (and guitars), choreographed knee-swayed moves and loud amplification.
Of course, those timeless tunes such as “La Grange,” “Legs,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Tush” and more, also will be performed.

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Boasting the same original members after four decades is a rare feat these days. The members' time away from each other actually keeps everyone on the same page.

“We give each other lots of space to be ourselves as individuals,” Gibbons admitted. “But when we strap up and plug in, we’re pretty much one, crazy three-headed monster. When we first got together to see if the combination of Gibbons, Hill and Beard would work, we started to play to gauge compatibility. Things went so well that a planned 30-minute shakedown session lasted more than three hours. We knew we’d found the formula and have kept at it ever since because chances like this don’t come around so often.”

Gibbons is also quite the entrepreneur with a reported net worth of $60 million, per celebritynetworth.com. He has his own hot sauce, shirts, guitar strings and picks. Plus, he’s had acting roles (“Bones”) and has shared stages with other musicians not named Hill and Beard.

Gibbons said his “extracurricular” activities keep his creative juices flowing.

“While ZZ Top has been and will always be our No. 1 priority, it’s good to stretch one’s legs, musical or otherwise on a variety of pursuits,” he said. “Acting, gear, cuisine, art and side projects tend to keep one alert and involved so when we go back to doing our ZZ thing, there’s a renewed sense of enlightenment and enthusiasm.”

Gibbons has stepped out on ZZ a few times by lending his guitar prowess on different artists' songs including Kid Rock, Nickelback, Ministry's demented cover of “Sharp Dressed Man” and Alice Cooper’s “I've Fallen In Love And I Can't Get Up" from his latest album, “Paranormal.”

“Al (Jourgensen of Ministry) is so far ahead of the curve that it’s impossible to really keep up with him,” Gibbons began. “But it’s always worth the effort to try. Alice is as down-to-earth a guy as you could ever meet and just as straight-forward and warm as you think he is. It’s no wonder that he and Glen Campbell, on the surface a very odd couple, were the best of friends.”

New ZZ Top albums don’t come around often, with its last release, “La Futura,” taking place in 2012. And before that, 2003’s “Mescalero.” Gibbons promises that new material is in the works.

“We’ve actually started putting some new stuff down in the studio, but it remains to be seen if we’ll release these tracks as part of an album or in some kind of sequential way,” he said. “We’re really open to experimenting in terms of format. Let me just say here and now that Dusty is singing better than ever and Frank has the backbeat down strong.”

And if anyone questions the band’s energy on stage, they need to come and check out a show for themselves. Although well into their 60s, Gibbons and the boys prove every year that they are still “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers.”

“Well it’s just what we do,” Gibbons said. “If we didn’t do this, we’d wonder what we’re missing. The feedback from audiences, listeners, etc., is what motivates us. It’s just human nature to want to please, and that in a sense, is what pleases us.”

If you go

What: ZZ Top

When: Sunday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines

Ticket info: Tickets are available at the Civic Center Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster locations, charge-by-phone at (800) 745-3000 and online at DesMoinesPerformingArts.org.

Billy Gibbons’ top 5 ZZ Top records

1. Tres Hombres (1973)

2. Deguello (1979)

3. Eliminator (1983)

4. El Loco (1981)

5. La Futura (2012)