Americana pop duo play at Bay of Pines.

Bruce Kunkel and Rob Harris have a unique interpretation of the music industry that is in part influenced by the tech industry.

Kunkel was a founding member of the iconic Americana rock favorite The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The band’s genesis traces back to him and his high school best friend, Jeff Hanna, jamming together. Kunkel fondly recalls living with his bandmates, which in the beginning included Jackson Browne, at a house in Long Beach.

Kunkel quit the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band after three-and-a-half years as vocalist and guitarist, and then faced north and moved to the Bay Area to raise his son.

He enrolled at Sonoma State University, eventually earning his doctorate degree in industrial relations psychology, and, just as importantly, he met Harris there. Both men found success in Silicon Valley’s budding tech industry and have been playing music together for 40 years.

Harris, for his part, is a native son of Monterey with an affinity for accessible Americana pop and thoughtful songwriting. “There’s a real synergy there,” Kunkel says.

Kunkel is a powerful lyricist, while Harris focuses more on sound. Kunkel says his lyrics are inspired by experiences in his own life, part of which involves yearning for social justice and stronger morality in society.

A merger of those messages manifest in the twangy track “Race to the Bottom,” which is delivered gutturally and gruffly.

Kunkel wrote it from his unique view of technology’s boom and bust, predicting the industry’s recession a year before it happened.

“Wait a minute, chairman/ why you looking down/ people are getting restless coming after your crown/ manic-free market in the autumn/ all caught up in your race to the bottom.”

Harris’ song “Chameleons” comes with more pop, and is sung by Harris, whose voice is smooth, subtle and resonate. His songwriting maintains an Americana edge and stays on message: “Do you think/ with all the time we’ve spent/ to live past our regrets/ and learn from all is said/ we’d listen to voice inside our heads.”

Kunkel says that he and Harris are not playing for commercial success.

“I once had a perch to see the commoditization of art,” he says. “My philosophy is that art belongs to a community.”

KUNKEL AND HARRIS 7-9pm, Saturday, Oct. 8. Bay of Pines Restaurant, 150 Del Monte Ave., Monterey. $10 donation. 930-3560, www.bayofpines.com