Chris Isaak comes rockin’ back to Healdsburg’s Rodney Strong Vineyards

In a pop culture that thrives on categorizing performers, singer and songwriter Chris Isaak defies an easy, one-word definition. Both poised and modest, equally inclined to hard work and humor, he has a comfortable charm that is all his own.

Best-known for the hits “Wicked Game,” “Baby Did a Bad Thing” and “Somebody’s Crying” - as well his love of the classic rock ‘n’ roll sound, his rockabilly leanings and his crooner’s voice - Isaak remains a true California original.

Returning to one of his favorite venues, he will kick off this summer’s Rodney Strong Concert Series outdoors at the Healdsburg Vineyards with a show July 8.

Isaak, 61, a native of Stockton who now lives in San Francisco, not only has recorded a dozen albums, but his acting credits include “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” and “Silence of the Lambs.”

Speaking by phone from a stop in Los Angeles, Isaak took time for a frank, candid and funny interview about his career and his life as a musician.

Q: How big is your touring band this time?

A: We’re a sextet. At this point in my career, it’s the only way we could get the word ‘sex’ involved in any way.

Q: What you do you like about touring?

A: One nice thing about this job is I get to go everywhere. Of course, there are people who’ve got more money than I do, but they don’t get to travel like I do. Ask rich people where they go and say, Paris or New York or Rome. Yeah, but did you go to Bellingham, Washington? They’ve got a lot of great second-hand and antique stores. The only other people who travel this much salesmen, but they go to the same places. They’ll go to New York or Pittsburgh and then home. There’s all kinds of little towns.

Q: What’s the other side of touring?

A: After every show, people ask, “Where are you going next?” And at lot of times, I don’t even know. We get on the bus and we drive 300-400 miles, and somebody says, “Get out.” We’re moving, always.

Q: Do you ever take a break?

A: This year, for the first time ever, I took a little time off. I’m from Stockton in the San Joaquin Valley and I got “valley fever” (a fungal lung infection.) For a couple of months, I was flat on my back. For some people, it’s very serious. Luckily, my story has a happy ending.

Q: Do you think people have misconceptions about working musicians?

A: I remember years ago, a CEO was inviting us to a party, and said, “Oh, you should bring your band.” Then his wife said, “Just tell the band, though - no drugs.” That’s the impression people have of musicians. And I thought, “Lady, you’ve done more drugs than I ever have.” My idea of a good time is to hit the gym or take a long walk.

Q: Do you see yourself doing more acting?

A: I love acting, but with music, I can drive my own career. Actors are always trying to be seen, so they can get a call.

Q: With your recording projects, you’ve gone from all rock ‘n’ roll classics on “Beyond the Sun” in 2011, to original songs on “First Comes the Night” in 2015. Do you have new recordings in the works?

A: I’m always working on something. I’ll probably go into the studio within the next six months.

Q: Do you have a backlog of songs of your own that you want to record?

For the first 15 years of my career, I had the same cassette recorder and I still have it. That’s what I would record my songs on. I still have boxes of them from back when I was 12 or 13 years old, writing songs. And some of them are terrible songs. People who don’t like my music would probably say, “He never got any better.”

Q: Have you updated your technology since then?

A: Now everybody carries an iPhone and it’s great because you don’t have search through it. You can find the songs. It used to be hell. I’d go through my cassettes and I’d have to listen to like 70 of them to find the song I knew I had somewhere.

Q: So have you found some gems in your archives?

A: That’s how you know you’re ready to start putting an album. If I’ve got good starts on five or six, maybe eight songs, I start working with the band, and by the time I’ve got those arranged, three other ones will come, and I’m ready.

Q: Do you think you’re going to stick with your own songs for a long time to come?

A: Probably. I like doing original material because I’ve got so much of it. I have a lot of stuff I’ve written that I’d like to record because I don’t know who else would. On my phone, I’ve got maybe 200 little pieces of songs. I don’t know what it’s like to write a novel, but you might sketch down an idea that goes, “You businessman sees a murder. Falls in love with the detective.” You get 20 or 30 of those pieces, and you say, “That’s a good one. I think I could fill that one out.”

Q: That sounds like hard work.

A: You know, it is hard work for someone who’s not so inclined, but I am so inclined.

Q: What’s your ultimate ambition?

A: I’m don’t think I’m like John Lennon or someone like that. If it was baseball, he’d be the homerun hitter. I consider myself the guy who, if he really hustles, he might be able to keep playing.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.