Singer-songwriter Charlie Faye talks about cities as though flipping through a calendar: “May was Shreveport. June was Burlington. August will be Milwaukee.” For Faye, touring isn’t a drop-in and get-out-of-town kind of event. She likes to stay awhile and get a feel for a place.

Known for her Americana blend of blues, rock ‘n’ roll and country, Faye was not interested in the nationwide whirlwind normally associated with music tours: “The thought of being on the road for one year, going to a different place night after night, didn’t appeal to me,” says Faye. I wanted to find another way of doing it, a healthier way to experience some of these places.”

According to Faye, a traditional music tour entails “getting somewhere, maybe having dinner, playing the gig and leaving. You never get to know anybody or see anything. I’d gotten to travel all around the world playing music but didn’t get to experience anything.”

When mentors advised Faye that she needed to spend a year on tour supporting her new album Wilson Street, she decided to spend a month in each city, form a band, and play some gigs.

“Playing with different musicians in each town and putting together the local bands is my favorite thing about this tour,” Faye says. “That is what really lets me in on the music community, lets me be a part of it, for a little while anyway.”

As Faye re-embarks on her tour after appearing at the Steinbeck Festival, she will continue to spend a month in each of 10 select cities, a musical philosophy that allows place to become a part of music: “I want my music to be shaped by who I’m playing with, and the sound of that particular place.”

CHARLIE FAYE talks about her journey in song at the Steinbeck Festival on Friday, Aug. 6, 3:30-4:15pm ($18/general; $10/student) and performs at Sherwood Hall, 940 N. Main St., Salinas, at 8:30pm ($18/general; $10/student). More on Charlie Faye at: http://charliefaye.com