“For me nowadays, when we get together and play, it’s like a celebration of just being together.”

For Michael D’Santi, that togetherness has lasted for more than 30 years.

The Southern California blues-rock guitarist started D’Santi with his brother and friends he met in high school. After decades of gigs, changing music scenes, families, careers, and everything that can pull a band apart, they are still playing together.

They know each other so well that they rarely need to make eye contact onstage. Everyone already knows where the music is going.

As Michael put it, “People pick up on that. They see that we’re enjoying it rather than trying to make money or be famous.”

But before D’Santi, there was a house filled with instruments.

Michael’s father was a guitarist who played around Los Angeles during the late ’ ...