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Even though The Chris Isaak Show is coming back for its third season on Showtime, the man whose name is in the title says it will be the last.
"I think we did three seasons that were really good," says Isaak, who is "standing in my boxer shorts in the back yard, looking at the weeds" while he chats on the phone.
Even if the cable network wanted the show for another year, Isaak says no dice.
"I had a contract with them, and I fulfilled it," he says. "It's time for me to go back on tour."
So the singer/songwriter with the dreamy falsetto is on the road, with a date at the Celebrity Theatre on Sunday. He's hitting the trail with a new attitude picked up from working on the TV show. Let him explain.
"I worked harder on that thing than anything in my life. If I had to go back and do it all again, I wouldn't work that hard.
"I kind of learned something, so this is for other people who are perfectionists: You have to learn to go back sometimes and say, 'That's good enough.' Sometimes 95 percent, that's enough. Take the extra 5 percent and go take the day off and get a glass of lemonade."
For Isaak, the end of the sitcom - one of the wittiest, smartest shows on TV - puts an end to 12-hour days, memorizing scripts on planes and learning new musical numbers for each show. But he hasn't been complaining.
Actually, the good-humored Isaak is not a man to gripe about much of anything. The San Francisco rocker is one of the most content guys you'd ever want to meet. He doesn't even mind the downside of being a household name.
"There's not a dang thing wrong with being famous," he says. "People are really friendly to you. They have a sense they know you or your work. And the people who don't like you don't bother with you."
He genuinely likes his fans. After every concert, he sticks around to sign autographs. You figure you can only hear, "Mr. Isaak, I love your songs so much" so many times without getting blasé about the whole thing. He disagrees.
"It's genuinely moving every time somebody says it," he says. "Sometimes that'll be the thing I take away from a show that means the most to me. I don't have kids, you know. Sometimes I think about what I did on this big blue marble besides eat and play a guitar, what did I bring to it? So I hope people have a good time at the shows and I hope they liked the music."
His levelheadedness extends to money. "My lifestyle didn't really change when I had success. The only difference is when I order food, I don't have to add up how much it costs. And I go to the same restaurants I always have. I got money so late in the game, I had already developed sardine-sandwich tastes.
"I don't go to high-toned places. I don't take vacations all over the world. What I like best about having money is if my dad went through surgery, I can help him out. I can pay my car insurance. I didn't ratchet up my lifestyle at all. The biggest thing about money is security for your health and old age."
Speaking of old age, the eternally handsome, perpetually cool Isaak seems to be one of those who have discovered the fountain of youth. At 47, he doesn't look much older than when his debut album came out in 1985.
"Clean living," he says. "I never did drugs. I never smoked. I don't drink. I surf as much as I can. Whatever else I want to do, I don't deny myself."
Does he feel older?
"Only when some beautiful girl calls me 'Mr. Isaak.' "
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Et même si le prix est élevé ( il a tout de même pas la même quote que les Stones ! ), pour 30 chansons ( soit 1.5 € la chanson à 45 € l'entrée ), le rapport qualité / prix est nettement meilleur que la plupart des groupes actuels...
