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Stephen Kellogg is not the type to brag about sharing the stage with Melissa Etheridge and hanging out with Carly Simon, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett. In fact, the musician never mentioned it in his interview with The Sacramento Press.

Kellogg's favorite moment in his 15-year musical career wasn't even playing music. It was a humbling moment watching the drummer in his band help a soldier in the Middle East.

"In Kuwait this past spring, we met this Army Ranger shipping out that night for Afghanistan," Kellogg said. "He was hanging out, listening to us play, and it came up that he played banjo. Boots, the drummer from our band, who also plays banjo, gave his banjo to the Army Ranger. It felt like all the other things we'd done up to that point were leading up to this single definitive moment (where) the person whose life you're touching will never forget."

Fifteen years after his first demo recording, Kellogg will come to Sacramento with his band, The Sixers, on Sunday. They will perform at Borders Books in Roseville and Marilyn's on K, 908 K St.

Kellogg said he grew up in a household full of music by the Grateful Dead, Jackson Brown and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. But it wasn't until attending a Whitesnake concert in the 80s that the idea of music as a job became feasible.

He said it was "fate" that brought him to choose it as a career, and that once he realized you could make a living from it, he never looked back. Kellogg has since released five albums as the Sixers, also known as Sk6ers, pronounced Skick-sirs; three solo albums; one with The Stephen Kellogg band; and one with the Root Cellar Band.

Last year, the Sk6ers were favorably reviewed by NPR: "Their homegrown sound mirrors the folk-rock style of The Band, presented with great humility by a lead man with a Springsteen-sized personality."

Last month, the Sk6ers' new album, The Bear, debuted at No. 7 on Billboard's New Artist Charts.

Kellogg explained the band's readiness to play shows for social causes, for instance, last month's show for St. Louis Children's Hospital. "If we had made it, in terms of becoming a household name early on, I'm not sure our music would have gotten where it's supposed to go.

"You have to do other things that aren't trying to move your career forward," Kellogg said. "If we're going to do this for the long haul and be proud of what we've accomplished, we need to take music and make it different in ways that aren't so ego driven."

Having played about 1,000 shows with the Sk6ers, his life is a "dream life" he said, adding that he feels an obligation to give back.

Though the Sk6ers never have been to Sacramento, they say they're excited to visit the city. Kellogg has a friend from Sacramento who will take the band on a tour of the city, he said.

The musicians will play a free acoustic set Sunday at 1 p.m. at Borders Books in Roseville, because Borders stocks the Sk6ers' albums. "It's a good idea to get the back of those who get your back," Kellogg said.

Sunday's show at Marilyn's on K will begin at 7 p.m. with acoustic rock openers Tyrone Wells and Matt Hires. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door and can be purchased here.

Photographs credit Welk Music Group Publicity / Vanguard Records