Guess who is excited for Nelson?

No one may be more excited to see the rock band Nelson perform at Newton Fest than mayor Mike Hansen.

He can hardly contain his smile when he talks about it. Admittedly, he is a big fan of the group’s music and has been ever since he was first introduced to Nelson’s debut album “After the Rain” in 1992, two years after its initial release.

But it’s not like the Newton mayor stumbled upon the band — fronted by twin brothers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson — during a chance visit to a record store or by watching the music video of the band’s No. 1 hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.” No, no. Hansen discovered Nelson thanks to his daughter, Carieanne, who was a junior in high school at the time.

“She fell in love with the long, blond hair of both of those guys and that type of thing,” Hansen said. “She had the posters and what have you. Being a father, I’m always interested in what my children are interested in. So that was my first exposure to Nelson.”

Well, it certainly wasn’t his first exposure to the Nelson family name. When Hansen was a youngster, he remembered himself and his family watching the TV show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” starring the husband-and-wife performance duo Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, who are the grandparents of Matthew and Gunnar.

Likewise, Hansen said his wife, Brenda, was a fan of Ricky Nelson, the rock ’n’ roll and country music singin’ father of Matthew and Gunnar. Hansen said he has admiration for the family’s success and work ethic in the field of music.

Set to perform “An Evening with the Nelsons,” a set list of the group’s songs and famous tunes by their family members, during Newton Fest Saturday at Maytag Bowl, Nelson is notable for being the third consecutive generation of singers in the family to reach No. 1 record status.

As a fan of rock, hard rock and a bit of metal music, Hansen was immediately drawn to Nelson, which had a slightly different approach to rock music at the time, certainly more so when the popularity of grunge (a genre Hansen said he never got into) became more widespread in the 1990s.

So why did Nelson garner attention from Hansen? Well, for starters, that long blond hair certainly caught his eye. But the band’s brand of rock music seemed to click for the mayor whose favorite bands include The Who, Led Zeppelin, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan and Mötley Crüe, among others.

“I still listen to them,” Hansen said of the Newton Fest headlining act. “My daughter still listens to them. She wanted me to join her at a concert and I couldn’t because of a work obligation, so I’ve never seen them in person in concert.”

But that’s all about to change in a few days. When Hansen first found out Nelson would be the lead performer of Newton Fest, he was “overjoyed” at the thought of finally being able to see the brothers perform live.

“This will be a first for me,” Hansen said Monday. “So old dogs do get things that happen to them later in life.”

So we can expect him cheering from the front row, right?

“I’m going to be wherever the hell they’ll let me be,” Hansen said with a laugh. “Most of the artists that I have followed and liked, I have been to at least one of their concerts. I have never had the opportunity to do that with these guys. I am looking forward to that.”

Newton Fest kicks off Thursday.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com