This is definitely the time of year for holiday homecomings at The Ark.

First it was Bill Kirchen, the Ann Arbor native who returned to town to do a Honky Tonk Holiday show on December 10.

Now, it’s Riders in the Sky — two of whom have strong Michigan roots and attended the University of Michigan back in the late-‘60s/early-‘70s. The venerable Western music group comes to The Ark on Thursday for their “Christmas the Cowboy Way” show.

Guitarist-singer “Ranger Doug” Green grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Cranbrook High School and graduated from U-M in 1968. And bassist-singer Fred “Too Slim” LeBour grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from U-M in 1971. And part of the Riders’ local lore is that, while here in Ann Arbor, they both lived on Thompson Street and were in country or bluegrass bands, but never knew each other until they met in Nashville several years later.

The two hooked up with fiddler Woody Paul to form Riders in 1977, and later added accordion player Joey the CowPolka King to make it a quartet.

The Riders continue to be the torch-bearers for a style of music that few groups play anymore — a sweetly nostalgic homage to classic cowboy/Western music, inspired by vintage acts like the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. There’s also a jazzy element to their music, given that they also draw a bit from the ground-breaking Western swing sound of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

The Riders have been also dubbed as a “Comedy & Western” group, since a big part of their act is devoted to jokey songs, skits, and a wagon train/bunkhouse shtick. The most recurring comical character is the humorously-ornery trail cook Sidemeat, portrayed by LaBoer.

And the Riders’ music is almost as much a tribute to cowboy movies as it is to actual cowboys. And, the notion of “The Cowboy Way” is a throwback of sorts to the wholesome, “all-American values” conveyed by cowboy-movie heroes of previous generations, like Rogers, Autry and Tom Mix.

Listen to Riders in the Sky "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" (MP3).

“Christmas the Cowboy Way,” meanwhile, is “a lot like our regular show, but with the addition of several Christmas songs — cowboy-music versions of standards, or some of our own original Christmas songs, or some obscure ones we’ve discovered and reworked,” says Green by phone from a tour stop in Oklahoma — fittingly, from a town called Oakley, which was named after Annie Oakley. “And Sidemeat reads a poem, ‘Sidemeat’s Christmas Goose.’”

The Riders’ latest album, “Lassoed Live at the Schermerhorn,” was performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. At first blush, combining cowboy music with a full orchestra may seem like an odd synergy of disparate styles. “But it’s not really such a far-fetched mix,” says Green. “To have 80 people behind us, creating this swelling sound, really does bring to mind the sound of those sweeping melodies from classic Western movies” by the likes of John Ford, he says.

“We’ve performed with symphonies before, but this was a real thrill, to do a concert with our hometown orchestra, at this beautiful Nashville performance hall.” The disc is currently available via the Riders’ web site but won’t be in retail stores until early next year.

It’s been several years since the Riders’ last studio album, partly because “we’ve been working on a few different albums at the same time, so the traffic is sort of getting clogged,” says Green. “We’ve had a lot of requests for an album of spiritual-type songs, so we’re doing that. And we’ve got another one that is strictly traditional cowboy songs, like ‘Red River Valley’ and ‘Streets of Laredo.’ I’d imagine the album of spiritual songs will be released soonest, because we’re farther along with that one.”

After 32 years of playing cowboy/Western music, Green says it’s still easy to be creative and spontaneous within the parameters of a traditional style while still staying true to the roots of that tradition.

“There was a great poetry in those old Western songs, and we continue to be inspired by that,” he says. “And when we write our own songs, the melodies are our own, of course. And in terms of performing, there’s a complexity to this music, because of the swing influence — the Pioneers were also inspired, musically, by (vintage ‘hot-jazz’) guys like Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. So it’s not just three chords. When we’re soloing, we can get as hot as we want. And the structure of the Pioneers’ vocal harmonies was pretty complex, and we try to stay true that when working out our own harmonies.”

One thing that keeps the Riders engaged in this classic form, after all these years, is their devotion to preserving a tradition that doesn’t currently have many practitioners.

“We really have become the standard-bearers of this kind of music,” says Green. “There are only a few groups playing this music any more. There’s the current version of the Sons of the Pioneers, with all ‘replacement members,’ and there’s the Sons of the San Joaquin, but all those guys are all even older than we are,” he adds with a laugh.

“So, at this point, part of it, for us, is that we feel like we’re on a mission. But I really would like for this music to catch the ear of some good young bands. I think it will, and I hope it’s soon.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

PREVIEW Riders in the Sky: “Christmas the Cowboy Way.” Who: Veteran band devoted to cowboy/Western songs, featuring two members who grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan. What: Traditional cowboy tunes, originals, swingy numbers, Christmas songs and a fair amount of comedic shtick. Where: The Ark, 316 South Main. When: Thursday, December 17, 8 p.m. How much: $20. Details: 734-761-1451 or The Ark web site.