For Jonathan Edwards, singing in front of a couple hundred people counts as an intimate experience.

“The performance of art – whether it’s theater, singer-songwriters, or bands – if it’s live and in-person,” Edwards said recently, “there’s just a sense of community and reality and authenticity that you can’t get out there in the auto-tuned world of the media.”

Edwards, whose history of performing around New England and in Maine stretches back five decades, is appearing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2, at Johnson Hall in Gardiner.

“I’ve had 50 years of this,” he said. “It’s just been incredible. I am so filled with gratitude and appreciation for the fact that it’s been 50 years. I have managed to hold on to the excitement and energize a lot of fans. I have been able to keep whatever gifts I had – my ability to play, hold a crowd and hit the high notes. A lot of my friends have not.”

Edwards earned widespread recognition as a singer-songwriter in the early 1970s with “Sunshine” followed by “Shanty,” which a number of radio stations across the country play every Friday at 5 p.m. to kick off the weekend. In the early days, he was on the road, playing 250 nights a year. Now he schedules between 50 and 80 dates a year. Most of those are in smaller spaces, and some are house concerts.

Edwards finds performance is very much a two-way street.

“It’s a tricky balance. It’s important for the songs I sing to approach them with vulnerability, but I have to balance that with will power and energy and strength,” he said.

And as much as he gives to audiences, he has found they give back.

Tom Snow, a pianist and composer and Bates College lecturer who has worked with and for Edwards for about six years and who will appear with him at Johnson Hall, said he’s never seen Edwards give a bad performance.

“From my observation, to his great credit and as a wonderful example and great reminder, he never just punches his time card,” Snow said. “When he’s singing one of his hits for the umpteen millionth time, he sings it with honesty and integrity. Plenty of people would not make that effort.”

This is at least the second time Edwards has played Johnson Hall.

Every time he plays a room, Edwards said, he tries to bring something new to it.

“Having hung around this long, there’s a certain panache that comes with being 70 and having joined people and having them join me all these years,” he said. “It’s a responsibility and an absolute joy.”

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