For Three Dog Night vocalist and founding member Danny Hutton, there’s a certain pressure that comes with playing with a symphony.

Pressure the size of an “ocean liner” to be exact, Hutton said by phone during an interview from his home in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon neighborhood.

“With the rock thing, you can ad-lib and be a little loose. This is like having a huge ocean liner behind you,” he said of performing with an orchestra. “They’re reading charts. They’re not changing anything. It just really keeps you on your toes. You have to be focused.”

Hutton’s focus this weekend will be on Three Dog Night’s concert Saturday night with the Omaha Symphony. The classic rock band joins the orchestra for an 8 p.m. show at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

Under the direction of composer/arranger/conductor Larry Baird, who wrote the orchestration for the show, Three Dog Night will perform many of its greatest hits, including “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” “Joy to the World,” “Black and White,” “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Shambala” and “One,” among others.

In recent years, the band has performed onstage with several symphonies across the country and has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. The classic rockers first performed with the Omaha Symphony during its 2002-03 season.

The addition of orchestral arrangements to Three Dog Night’s signature sound, Hutton said, gives the music a lusher, fuller sound and, at times, a dramatic intensity.

“It’s just massive,” he said.

Though the band typically doesn’t rehearse before its rock concerts, the group makes a point of being well-prepared and well-rehearsed for symphony gigs. Hutton said he doesn’t want orchestra musicians to think that he and his bandmates are “just a bunch of old rock ‘n’ roll guys.”

“We really try to do our best,” he said.

In addition to Hutton, band members are Cory Wells (vocals); Paul Kingery (vocals, bass); Michael Allsup (guitar); Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards); and Pat Bautz (drums ).

Three Dog Night, which formed in 1968, had sold nearly 50 million records by late 1975. The group’s achievements include 12 gold albums, two Grammy nominations, 21 Top 40 hits and three No. 1 songs.

Four decades into its career, the band continues to maintain a year-round touring schedule of 60 to 80 dates a year at theaters, performing arts centers, corporate events, casinos, fairs and festivals.

Hutton said he attributes Three Dog Night’s longevity to the melodic, upbeat nature of the band’s music and its universal themes.

“The songs we did were about emotions or about relationships or having a good time,” he said. “The songs are all melodic and have big hooks in them, and we do a lot of harmonies. That has a long shelf life.”