Tacoma Symphony Orchestra just never seems to run out of novel ideas to present their fine brand of orchestral music to the masses. For “Into the West,” its newest concert to be presented March 29 at Pantages Theater, Maestro Harvey Felder and the orchestra are going country with two consummate country & western performers joining them onstage, guitarist Kevin Neil and bassist/drummer Ray Mann of the duo Up Country.

This concert will take listeners back to the glory days of country music, when entertainers like Gene Autry, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams painted musical portraits of life and love in the untamed West. Remember those legendary songs like “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “The Tennessee Waltz,” “Pecos Bill,” “Hey, Goodlookin’” and “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)?” Well, after all these years these tunes still have the power to capture the heart and they will no doubt sound heavenly at the hands of TSO’s versatile musicians and their friends from Up Country.

Along with these songs and others like “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” “Rollin’ in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and “Don’t Fence Me In,” the playlist includes medleys by Bob Wills and Hank Williams, Jr. Audiences will also be treated to orchestral favorites by Gioachino Rossini (Overture to “William Tell,” a.k.a. the theme from “The Lone Ranger”); Aaron Copland (“Hoedown” from “Rodeo”); John Williams (“The Cowboys”) and Ferd Grofe (“On the Trail” from the “Grand Canyon Suite”).

Neil and Mann are the real deal when it comes to authentic country & western music. Their close, two-part harmonies are as sweet to the ear as the real cowboy poetry and stories they tell during their shows. Neil and Mann have been making music together for more than 15 years, but their performance with TSO will mark their debut with a symphony orchestra.

Neil is vocalist, lead guitarist and poetry reader in Up Country. A professional entertainer for 35 years, he has won awards and played many styles of music throughout his career and has even performed with Stevie Wonder. Mann also takes the vocals and simultaneously plays bass and drums, a technique he taught himself after he was run over by a diesel truck 35 years ago and lost the use of his right arm for two years. Mann has a long list of accomplishments to his name, including performances for Queen Elizabeth II and Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Noted pianist/arranger/conductor/composer Bo Ayars will be playing keyboards during the concert. A performer of worldwide stature, he spent 13 years as musical director for Liberace and has worked with a list of musicians and singers that reads like a Who’s Who list of entertainment royalty: Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, Robert Goulet, Diahann Carroll, Raquel Welch, Bobby Vinton, Debbie Reynolds and Red Skelton, among many others. He has performed for presidents and statesmen, and has been musical conductor at venues from Radio City Music Hall to Disneyland.

Tickets for “Into the West” are $10-$75, available by calling (253) 272-7264 or www.tacomasymphony.org. The show starts at 2:30 p.m.