O.A.R. takes the stage at Penn’s Peak Sunday

O.A.R. returns to Penn’s Peak Sunday at 8 p.m.

During the course of its two decades of making records, O.A.R. — lead singer and primary songwriter Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman and saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo — has created and maintained a sort of a parallel universe.

In effect hiding in plain sight from the world outside, the band fills arenas and amphitheaters as it crafts and releases relatable songs with big pop hooks, all of this activity going down completely apart from the mainstream.

Within this universe, these songs are bona fide hits, and the band members are superstars.

“People like being part of what we are doing, because we exist and we succeed within our own community,” Roberge says.

“We have no desire to exist or succeed by someone else’s standards. We just want to provide for our families and give them every opportunity, and do that by playing shows and making music.”

“XX,” the band’s latest CD, is neither a career culmination nor a conventional greatest-hits album; rather, it’s a sizing up, a series of aural snapshots on a continuing journey.

Roberge views O.A.R.’s evolution as a series of steppingstones — he refers to this zigzagging movement as “island-hopping” — and each of the songs on “XX” represents a moment of significance for the band members and for their devoted fans.

If there’s a thread that runs through this music — from the band’s humble beginnings to its present hard-earned status, it’s affirmation and uplift.

This expansive humanistic impulse, which remains a central aspect of the band’s appeal to its legion of fans, “comes from a few different places,” Roberge says.

This communal process of therapy/exorcism/ecstasy animates the songs and performances hand-picked by the band members to represent the magical world they first envisioned as teenagers and have inhabited ever since.

Some dreams die hard. And some dreams are built to last.

Love is Love Tour

LeAnn Rimes and her LovE is LovE Tour-Acoustic takes the Penn’s Peak stage at 8 p.m. Nov. 9.

Rimes has sold more than 44 million albums, won two Grammy Awards, three Academy of Country Music Awards and 12 Billboard Music Awards. She is the youngest recipient of a Grammy Award, and was also the first country recording artist to win in the “Best New Artist” category.

Rimes has placed 42 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 13 of which are top-10 hits, and has scored numerous hit singles in her career, including “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” which went #1 in 11 countries, and “How Do I Live,” which is the second-longest charting song ever on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

She has released more than 10 studio albums, three compilation albums and two greatest hits albums in her illustrious career.

Also coming to Penn’s Peak

• Friday, Molly Hatchet with Black Oak Arkansas, 8 p.m.

• Saturday, The Land of Ozz, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 3, Parmalee, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 4, Blue Oyster Cult, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 11, An Acoustic Evening with Lee Brice & Randy Houser, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 12, Cheap Trick, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 17, Gene Watson, 8 p.m.

• Nov. 22, Dark Star Orchestra, 8 p.m.

• Dec. 2, An Evening with Todd Rundgren, 8 p.m.

• Dec. 16, The Eagles Experience, 8 p.m.

• Dec. 29, Back to the Eighties Show with Jessie’s Girl, 8 p.m.

• Dec. 30, Get the Led Out, 8 p.m.

• Dec. 31, Get the Led Out, 9 p.m.

Tickets for all shows are available at Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak Box Office and Roadies Restaurant and Bar.

For more information on Penn’s Peak, go to www.pennspeak.com or call 866-605-7325.