Don’t let his thick Texas drawl and folksy manner fool you. Underneath his country-boy persona, Ray Wylie Hubbard is an artist who is not afraid to resist expectations and color outside the lines.Hubbard plays at Stargazers Theatre and Event Center Saturday night, returning to the Springs for the first time since a visit “a long, long, long time ago.”It’s tempting to associate Hubbard’s music with that of other Texas country singers, like his good friend and fellow “elder statesman” Willie Nelson. However, Hubbard feels more at home in the Americana genre — a fusion of country, folk, roots rock, and blues music.”I love having a grit and a groove to my music,” says Hubbard, “but I’m not a country guy or a full-blown rock guy. I’ve never really been a country singer or a country songwriter.”Despite not claiming the country mantle as his own, Hubbard does believe in telling rich, relatable stories and honoring rural roots in his music. In his early 40s, Hubbard began to “get serious about songwriting” and made the first album of which he was truly proud — “Loco Gringo’s Lament.”A voracious reader since childhood, Hubbard says his background in literature has helped him immensely as a songwriter. Additionally, he has continued to develop new techniques as a musician — something he says has made the task of writing songs an easier one.”As an old cat, I keep learning new things,” says Hubbard, 65. “That gives the songs new doors to come in through. Songwriting is inspiration plus craft, and the craft will trigger the inspiration.”Nonetheless, while he takes pride in his work, don’t think that Hubbard is too concerned with crafting a masterpiece.”I don’t really believe in writer’s block at all,” he says. “If I’m having trouble with a song, I just lower my standards, rhyme the damn thing and go get some sleep.”This kind of down-to-earth approach to musicianship, though, has not kept Hubbard from brushing shoulders with musical giants. He met Beatles legend Ringo Starr in California, after the two became familiar with each other’s work. Starr liked Hubbard’s songs so much he wanted collaborate. On Hubbard’s latest album, “The Grifter’s Hymnal,” Starr provides vocals and instrumentation on the track “Coochy Coochy.””It was very gracious of him to do that,” says Hubbard. “I got a Beatle on my record. That’s pretty wild.”Hubbard shows no signs of slowing down. His touring in support of the new album has taken him from New York to Los Angeles. He also plans to make a trip to England and the Netherlands in the upcoming year. Most are smaller venues, 200-300 seats.”I enjoy those,” he says. “They’re more intimate. I get to talk about the songs and get a good rapport going.”It is this rapport with fans that gives Hubbard his reason to keep playing.”I made a decision a long time ago that I was going to write songs not to see what I could get, but to see what I could contribute — to see what I could give.”One of the greatest things about what I do is when people come up and say they really enjoy my songwriting. When somebody I respect enormously comes up and tells me that, then it’s all worthwhile. It’s wonderful.”