Buddy Mondlock grew up in a suburb of Chicago and wanted to be an astronaut.

“I used to wake up early and watch all launches when I was a kid — Gemini and Apollo and all that stuff,” he said. “I was born in ’59, so right there, that was the biggest thing going on when I was a little guy.”

But Mondlock, of Nashville, wasn’t destined for a life enjoying Tang in outer space.

“I started taking guitar lessons when I was 10, and I was pretty much hooked from then on,” he said. “I started playing gigs in Chicago in the early ’80s, and then I moved to Nashville in ’88, and that is pretty much all I have done since then.”

Mondlock became a professional singer-songwriter who has worked with many industry legends throughout the years, including Garth Brooks.

“I just feel so fortunate that I have been able to come into contact with the people who are heroes to me, and to have some of them record songs of mine just blows my mind,” he said. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Mondlock will perform at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at Rainshadow Recording in Fort Worden State Park, Building 315 West, in Port Townsend.

It will be Mondlock’s first performance at the venue.

“I have never been there, but I am looking forward to it,” Mondlock said.

The concert will be hosted by Northwind Arts Center as part of its Songwriter Series.

“I have known Buddy for a long time,” said Matt Miner, Songwriter Series coordinator. “I don’t really think you could classify him as a country singer although he is based out of Nashville and used to write with Garth Brooks. His songs have been recorded by people like Peter, Paul and Mary, and Janis Ian and Nanci Griffith. He is just a wonderful songwriter no matter what genre you want to pop it into.”

Miner said Mondlock’s voice is unique and memorable.

“If you look at Buddy or see a picture of him, you kind of expect this low baritone kind of voice, but he has a very high-pitched voice which shocks the heck out of you when first hear him,” Miner said. “But it is a beautiful voice and very expressive, and his songs are super creative. I have liked him ever since I first heard him. I have presented him a number of times, and he always stays with us when he comes to town. He is a super nice guy on top of being very talented.”

Mondlock said his style could be considered contemporary folk.

“It is all acoustic-based,” he said. “Very early on, my influences coming up were Simon and Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Before that, the Beatles, of course. All those great songwriters in the ’70s like Joni Mitchell and people like that, too. That is what sounded good to me.”

In high school, Mondlock said he discovered the sound of Chicago songwriters such as Steve Goodman, and that further influenced his style.

Mondlock’s repertoire continued to be shaped when he moved to Nashville.

“When I moved down there, I was more learning toward the sound of Suzanne Vega or Paul Simon,” Mondlock said. “But it also woke up in me some of the old folk country stuff. The last record I made had pedal steel on it, and dobro and mandolin and fiddle.”

Mondlock generally performs with soft bronze-wound steel strings that are bright and warm at the same time, he said.

His unique sound is further enhanced by his trusty guitar.

“I have got an old D-35 that is just such a mellow tone,” he said. “That is my baby. It doesn’t have a particular name, but we know each other very well.”

Mondlock said he bought the guitar used in about 1983.

“It was built in ’74,” he said. “It has got a few battle scars along the way, but it still holds together and sounds beautiful.”

Mondlock said he can remember when and where many of the scars were made.

“I was just sitting here looking at it right now, and there is a little bump on the back side of it with a crack that has been fixed and couple of little dings on the top of where the tuning (device) had fallen out of my pocket,” he said. “You would think there would only be one, but there are several of those.”

Mondlock said he’d never consider trading in his old guitar.

“Oh heck no,” he said.

During the performance, Mondlock will play songs spanning his career.

“I will pretty much go back through all the records I have made, just kind of picking out things that have stuck with me over the years,” he said. “I will play a fair bit of new stuff, too. Definitely some things off the most recent record, and newer songs that haven’t been recorded yet.”

Independent artist

Mondlock is an independent artist who owns his own label, Sparking Gap, which was founded in 1987. His most recent album, “Memory Wall,” was released in 2013.

Mondlock said owning his own label gives him a level of freedom he might not experience had he signed to a mainstream corporate record company.

“I have always had creative control, which is very important for artists of all kinds, really,” he said. “But I have been lucky in that along the way sometimes bigger labels have leased stuff I have done and put it out, so I am in their distribution network without having to answer to anyone. That has been great.”

Songwriter series

Since Miner moved to Port Townsend from Portland, Oregon, he said he’s made it his mission to attract talented songwriters to the area.

“It was an ongoing thing, but it wasn’t very consistent, and I took it over, and I have a lot of connections in Portland and singer-songwriters from around the country,” he said. “I have tried to bring more of them into this series and get them up here when they happen to be in this part of the country. It has been pretty much a parade of people who are better known outside of Port Townsend than in.”

The Songwriter Series performances happen once a month, usually on a Friday, Miner said.

“This show happens to be an anomaly because it is taking place at Rainshadow Recording up at Fort Worden because Northwind Gallery is under remodeling at the moment,” he said. “We would normally do them at the Northwind on Water Street. That is always where they have been done, but this one-off is going to be at the Rainshadow.”

Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.

Mondlock also will teach a songwriting workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 26. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

For more information, call 360-379-1086.