Chris Isaak has long been known for his smooth, soulful crooning, and his retro style, but did you know that the singer and songwriter is also a Stockton native? Celebrating a recently released greatest hits album, Best of Chris Isaak (Reprise, 2006), with chart toppers like “Wicked Game,” “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing,” and “San Francisco Days,” Isaak will be returning to the Central Valley this summer to perform as part of the annual summer concert series at Ironstone Vineyards, in Murphys. We took the opportunity to ask our local boy a few questions.

What is your fondest memory of living in Stockton? I have a lot of good memories of Stockton. My family has been part of Stockton since [President] Herbert Hoover was a teenager. I loved the heat, and I know everybody hates it when it gets really hot ... but I always liked it. In the summer, when it would get boiling hot, at night we would go to the park and play guitar and sing. We would usually take a collection and buy a gallon of A&W root beer and bring it along. And we told a lot of stories. Stockton still has the best Mexican food there is. Right over by the courthouse is a great place. I pull up my tour bus if we are ever passing by, and it's always fun to walk into a restaurant with seventeen hungry musicians. They love us.

Your older brother, Nick, also plays music. Do you try to get together to play, whether publicly or incognito? My brother Nick still plays music around Stockton. I actually learned to play guitar and sing by copying my brother, who taught himself to play. So now, if he sounds like me ... it's really because I copied him first! We play almost every time I am in town. It just feels great to sing with your brother. We play a lot of old country music usually, that's what we both grew up listening to in Stockton. Sometimes we drive to Santa Cruz to visit my other brother, Jeff, and then we all end up going out and playing music on the street. I was playing on the street one time and a woman came up and looked at me a long time and turned to her boyfriend and said, “That's Chris Isaak.” And he turned back and shook his head and said, “Yeah...he used to be big...” We usually play until we get enough money in the guitar case to buy lunch. I always say it makes you sing better if you're a little hungry.

Outdoors or indoors, which do you prefer? Do you adapt your song choices and playing style to accommodate the different acoustics? I have played many places ... outdoors, indoors, boats, prisons, and a bunch of military bases and hospitals with the USO. I think the sound or the place has little to do with the show being good, but the audience has a lot to do with it. I sometimes think people don't realize how much a part of the show they really are. The people always make it fun, and sometimes one person smiling or dancing can make the whole thing get going.

Do you ever get tired of playing “Wicked Game” in concert? I love playing “Wicked Game” because people like to hear it! I am in the lucky position of liking to do what I do. I like people, love playing music, and I love to travel around and put on a show. I guess some performers are sort of reluctant and don't really enjoy what they do, but not me. I must like it...I play all day on my day off just for fun.

Bonus question: Do you ever get to hang out at the winery venues before or after a performance? If so, which is your favorite: Ironstone or Wente wine? I almost always hang at the venue before and after the show. Before the show, I like to get a look at the people coming in and try to size up the crowd. After the show, I usually go out and sign T-shirts and shake hands with people. It really is a lot of fun, I get to say hey to people and they are usually very nice folks ... Oh, occasionally you get the drunken riff raff, but they are almost always just looking for the drummer, and as soon as I point him out they are on their way.

I think if I added up all the liquor I drink in a year it might make one half a glass, so my wine tasting abilities are probably not the best. I think you would have to ask the drummer. He has the subtle palette to be able to differentiate wine from Tang.

Compiled by Jamie Menaker