Kansas City musicians Bob Walkenhorst and Jeff Porter each have had long and varied music careers, with more than 50 years of music between them. The two will share their musical history with an acoustic set at 9 p.m. Saturday at the First Ward House.

Walkenhorst, who started playing music with his brother at the Ground Round in the ’70s, became front man for The Rainmakers, which released five albums in the U.S. and Europe from 1986 to 1996.

“We had a really good time, had a really good career,” he says. “We got to do all the things every American kid wants to do that has a rock and roll dream.”

Porter spent 20 years playing with the Grammy-winning reggae group Blue Rhythm Band.

Eventually, life on the road became less and less appealing for Walkenhorst and Porter. Both took a hiatus from music to settle down and raise their families. But after awhile, music called them back, and they began playing together.

For the past five years, the two have had a standing Wednesday night performance at the Record Bar in Kansas City. They usually play another show on the weekend, Walkenhorst says.

Their music has evolved from Walkenhorst’s rock ‘n’ roll Rainmakers music and Porter’s time with the reggae-playing Blue Rhythm Band. Porter says their sound is “stripped down,” without a lot of drums and no electric guitar.

“It sounds like getting back to the simplistic roots (of music),” he says.

The two will play acoustic versions of Walkenhorst’s Rainmakers hits, along with songs from their solo albums. Walkenhorst says the shows he does with Porter have a “lighter touch” than his Rainmakers days.

“I don’t feel the pressure to make people dance anymore,” he says.

But he still wants his music to move some part of the people in his audience.

“I’m a big believer in the power of music and in music being the last kind of magic,” he says. “We’re not sure how it works, but it moves us in big ways.”

Lifestyles reporter Lacey Storer can be e-mailed at lstorer@npgco.com