WAURIKA — Which is better, a steaming plate of freshly caught Dungeness crab or an order of surimi, that minced fish product often labeled as “krab.”

Would you rather watch Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 version of Psycho or director Gus Van Sant’s 2007 Psycho knock-off?

If you want to celebrate a traditional Christmas, do you purchase a Scotch pine or a tree made of metal and plastic? What has more value, the 545.57 carat Golden Jubilee diamond or a chunk of cubic zirconia that looks like a diamond?

Real vs. fake? Original vs. recreation? If we can forget about expense and availability, most of us are going to chose the original.

That was the guiding premise resulting in three original rock ‘n’ roll singers/musicians coming to the Simmons Center in Duncan on Saturday, Sept. 18, when the Chisholm Trail Arts Council begins its 2010-11 CTAC Live concert series.

Some of you know I’m the chair of the arts council’s CTAC Live committee. Our main tasks are to set the schedule and acquire the talent that appears every year. The committee and the arts council board also facilitate the concerts, which is a fancy-schmancy way of saying we work during the events.

Over the years, many patrons and folks with an interest in the series have suggested acts we could bring in to entertain the masses. I like getting those suggestions and I have a long list of recommended acts that grows every time there’s a show.

(Note to some folks who’ve made suggestions: The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, the Boston Pops, Beyoncé, Jerry Seinfeld, Kenny Chesney, Eminem, the New York Philharmonic and a thousand other of the most talented entertainers in the world probably won’t ever play CTAC Live. But it’s not like we wouldn’t love to have them!)

Anyway, some suggestions I get are for the “recreation” acts that populate the entertainment biz. You know, the “tribute” performers who recreate the music of The Stones, The Doors, Hank Williams Sr., Frank Sinatra, The Temptations and many more greats from the past.

I have nothing against recreation groups. This past spring, Karen and I went to the performance of Rain in Oklahoma City, and it was a wonderful show — almost like seeing The Beatles. (The key word is almost.)

But why settle for a recreation group if you can have the original — or at least, part of “the original?”

Which brings us to Acoustically Speaking, the opening show in this year’s CTAC Live series. When Terry Sylvester, John Ford Coley and Fran Cosmo come to town to do the music of The Hollies, England Dan & John Ford Coley and Boston, their billing is legit.

In 1969, Sylvester replaced Graham Nash in The Hollies’ line-up, and he stayed with the harmonic British group for a dozen years. When The Hollies were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in May, Sylvester shared the moment.

That’s Terry singing and playing guitar on gold record-selling singles He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, Long Dark Road and The Air That I Breathe, and on Hollies’ albums through 1981.

John Ford Coley? Yes, the fellow joining Sylvester as the first act of Acoustically Speaking is that John Ford Coley, who teamed with high school friend “England Dan” Seals to form one of the biggest-selling soft rock acts of the 1970s.

When Coley sings I’d Really Love to See You Tonight, Nights Are Forever Without You, Love Is The Answer and We’ll Never Have to Say Good-bye Again, the Dallas native isn’t recreating anything.

Fran Cosmo’s roots are intertwined with a lot of the platinum Boston produced between 1976 and 2002. When contractual problems prompted Boston to take a break in 1984, Cosmo and Boston founding member Barry Goudreau formed Orion the Hunter, which included three other members of Boston. With Fran singing lead and playing guitar, they kicked out a huge MTV hit, So You Ran, and an album collectors now consider an overlooked gem.

Orion the Hunter led to Cosmo becoming lead singer when Brad Delp left Boston in 1991, and he remained as lead and second lead when Delp returned.

Cosmo’s current band, which includes his son Anton, will journey through Boston hits as the second act of the CTAC Live opener.

Acoustically Speaking will be an evening of great music and memories, and there’s no “krab” on the menu.