Singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston plays Bend's Volcanic Theatre Pub Friday.

You don’t have to worry about Freedy Johnston taking his music career — or the Freedy fans who sustain it — for granted.

This is a man who has been making critically acclaimed folk-pop-rock albums since the early 1990s and has toured the world playing for people. He’s a songwriter’s songwriter — a midpoint between Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello — who, Rolling Stone once wrote, “seems incapable of writing a tune that doesn’t stick.”

And yet he still sounds bewildered when he looks back and assesses it all.

“I’ve written lots of songs and I have really hardcore fans who I love and who love my songs, and so I am able, thankfully, to eke out a living just going town to town and playing,” he said. “I’m not doubting (my ability), I’m just like, ‘It’s too bad they gave it to this fool.’”

Johnston almost didn’t get to this point. His new album, “Back on the Road to You,” is his first in seven years, and it comes after a period when the native Kansan stayed away from music for a while, even “officially” retiring for a short amount of time.

“I didn’t do anything for two or three or four years, and I even called my manager and told them, ‘I’m done. I’m out of the game,’” he said. “That lasted about a week.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnston wrote the songs that make up the new album, and even tried to record them, but ended up scrapping that effort.

Eventually, he moved from his longtime home of New York City to Joshua Tree, California, where he connected with an all-star band of musicians, including guitarist Doug Pettibone (who has played with Lucinda Williams), bassist Dusty Wakeman (Jim Lauderdale), drummer David Raven (Shelby Lynn) and guest vocalists Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs (of The Bangles) and Susan Cowsill.

Surrounded by all that talent, Johnston made an album of warm, winsome roots-pop songs about love, loss, “loner guys” (his words) and hopping back on life’s treadmill after you get knocked off.

“This record is all about getting back out there,” he said. “I hadn’t made a record for seven years, so I’d kind of forgotten how to do it. I’m glad I got it done at all, and now I know I can just do it again. It’s not such a big deal.”

It may not be a big deal to Johnston, but it is to the people he encounters on the road — good, solid, working-class people who just want to come out, drink a beer or two and hear that song that means so much to them, he said.

“I have the best fans in the world, and I’m very aware of the appreciation that they have for my songs. It keeps me going,” he said. “I’ll do this till the end of my life. You put someone — just one person — in front of me who loves my music and I’ll play my heart out.”

Since it opened in 2013, the Volcanic Theatre Pub on Bend’s west side has been the area’s most consistent place to catch live music by touring bands. It is a cornerstone of Central Oregon’s music scene.

And next weekend, on Feb. 17-18, VTP will celebrate its 10th anniversary with two nights of music by two funk bands that have played Bend many times and have plenty of local fans: Object Heavy (from Northern California) and The Motet (from Colorado).

The venue will also have food from Alley Dogz, local vendors and more fun stuff on hand. Both shows will start around 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40 for one night or $50 for both. Learn more at volcanictheatre.com.

What: Freedy Johnston

When: 9 p.m. Friday, doors open 8 p.m.

Cost: $12

Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend

Contact: volcanictheatre.com.