What's a Jim McCarty to do? Sit on his couch and dream about the "glory days"? Head down to the pub and regale the lads with stories of the "glory days"? Show up at music conventions and set up a booth, signing memorabilia for fans looking for reminders of the "glory days"?

Hell, no! Hit the road, Jim, with The Yardbirds — the inimitable rock band YOU co-founded 56 years ago — and rock out!

It's not McCarty's fault he's the drummer — or that (former) 'birds like guitarists Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page moved on and vocalist Keith Relf not only moved on but died.

So we say thanks to McCarty for keeping The Yardbirds — 1992 inductees into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame — an ongoing entity. They don't actively write and record new material, but that's often the way of the world in these situations. It's enough, sometimes, to simply have a one-degree-of-separation connection to greatness, and you can rest assured McCarty has assembled a world-class band to perform "Over Under Sideways Down," "Shapes of Things," "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," "For Your Love" and more.

The Yardbirds, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook; $60; (860) 510-0453.