California dreamin’, are we? Well, an evening with Donavon Frankenreiter may be the next best thing. The professional surfer-turned-singer/songwriter and guitarist will perform his brand of soft, soulful, surf-rock at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills on Aug. 8. A Downey, Calif., native who now lives in Hawaii, Frankenreiter, 45, has been performing and recording for more than a decade. A protégé of fellow surfer and singer-songwriter/environmentalist Jack Johnson, Frankenreiter calls his most recent album, 2015’s “The Heart,” his most “intimate, honest and sentimental” effort to date.
1. What came first, music or surfing?
Surfing came first. All of the traveling and friends I have met through surfing have shaped my music — the way I play and who I am as a musician. It’s done almost everything for me.
2. How do they influence each other?
Surfing and music inspire each other. Both draw on feeling and split-second decision-making. They’re both forever changing. And I can always play music on a surf trip.
3. Tell us about your latest album, “The Heart.”
I say it was made from the heart. It is a collection of love songs, and one song — “California Lights” — was written especially for my dad as he was dying of cancer.
4. Your sons are named for rock legends Ozzy [Osbourne] and [Jimi] Hendrix?
Yes, it’s something we didn’t think about. But my wife [Petra] is [the real rock legend]. She holds everything together in the midst of the chaos — so we can roll!
5. Who are your musical influences?
Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. These days, I listen to everything and anything.
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