Warren-based Company Townes will be on the road with Dwight Yoakam for four stops this week — the final one back home for a sold-out show at Struthers Library Theatre in Warren on Saturday.

The members of the country and western band — Jody Aiello (guitar and vocals), Sara Aiello (harmonica, bass, and vocals), Nate Blick (drums), and Eric Morelli (guitar and vocals), thought they couldn’t be more excited than when they learned they would open for Yoakam in Warren.

Then, they were asked to join him for more performances.

“Dwight’s agent called us on Friday and asked us to join his tour,” Sara Aiello, who was at work in the Kane Area School District, said. “My students had to fan me when I found out.”

Country music legend Dwight Yoakam will be joined by Company Townes at four tour stops, including Struthers Library Theatre, this week.

“When I think of country music, I think of Dwight Yoakam,” Jody Aiello said. “The whole thing is surreal.”

“Co. Townes will share the stage with Mr. Yoakam and his band at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling, W.V. on Feb. 9, The Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown, Md., on Feb. 10, and the Canton Palace Theatre in Canton, Ohio, on Feb. 11, before returning home to Warren to perform on the 12th,” Morelli said Tuesday. “Dwight Yoakam has sold over 25 million albums worldwide, is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner, and was the fastest sell-out in Struthers Library Theatre history, selling over 600 tickets during pre-sale alone.”

“Dwight is one of Co. Townes biggest influences,” he said. “We grew up listening to him, we’ve seen him multiple times, and we’ve covered his songs. Frankly, it’s our greatest privilege as a band.”

Co. Townes will be performing in front of thousands of people.

“We’re playing beautiful theaters similar to Struthers Library Theatre — though not as beautiful — which is a thrill,” Morelli, who is the Struthers marketing and education director, said. “The first venue on the tour is the 3000-capacity Capitol Theatre in Wheeling. We’ll be in front of around 7000 people over the course of the week!”

The band members are soaring on the privilege and the chance to play with Yoakam and aren’t concerned about whether it might be “a big break” kind of opportunity.

“It’s hard to say what this opportunity means for us,” he said. “It could lead to more or this could be it. Either way, we’re grateful.”

“Co. Townes is a country and western band with a new take on an old sound,” Morelli said “We’ve added a psychedelic twist to country music, which gives a dreamlike quality to the western myths we’re writing about.”

The band is currently working on their third album with plans for a fall release.

“Partnered with Straub Beer, Co. Townes rented the Struthers Library Theatre for our own show in 2019,” Morelli said. “We’ve been planning on a return performance since then. The success of that show actually led to my working at the theater.”

“The band and theater felt that supporting a celebrity series act was the best next step,” he said. “We were submitted to Dwight as local support and vetted by his team. We must have made enough of an impression for them to ask us to join them for the rest of the tour!”

Struthers Library Theatre Executive Director Karen Austin is not surprised to see international talent coming to Warren nor to see local talent joining those acts.

“Since I’ve been in Warren and affiliated with the theater, I have seen a plethora of local talents enter its doors,” Austin said. “As director of the theater, I wanted to showcase that local talent. Now we have a beloved local band, Co. Townes, opening for Dwight Yoakam.”

She said there are negotiations under way for folk duo SixPence and Molly Dies’ Dance Express to be involved in a 2023 celebrity series event.

“The inclusion of Co. Townes in Dwight Yoakam’s tour further validates our confidence in Warren’s artistic community,” Austin said. “You have the added factor of Eric Morelli being the Marketing/Education Director at Struthers Library Theatre and a band member of Co. Townes, it’s a win-win situation. We are so very proud of his accomplishments at SLT and on stage.”

The Feb. 12 concert is sold out. A schedule of theater events is available by visiting www.strutherslibrarytheatre.org.