MURRIETA - Not many people can say they make a living as a singer; Tony Suraci is one of the lucky few.

He's got two CDs under his belt with another on the way, has worked with the likes of Willie Nelson and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and has wowed Southwest County audiences for 16 years.

But that's just the beginning, said the 40-year-old musician.

"I want to sing to the world," he said.

Suraci has called Murrieta home for the last five years, and before that lived in Temecula for 11 years. In that time, he has entertained audiences at dozens of local restaurants. He's also a common fixture at area weddings and corporate parties.

With a sizable Southwest County fan base, he now regularly plays at Pala Casino and other venues, large and small. Although his variety shows include a rainbow of musical selections, many people know him for his uncanny ability to emulate such legends as Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

It's that talent that has landed him a gig headlining Wilson Creek Winery's last benefit concert this year, a fundraiser for Jacob's Gift that begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the winery.

Temecula-based Jacob's Gift puts on a huge Christmas party each year that is meant to be a safe, welcoming and accepting environment for area children with disabilities and their families.

Bill Wilson, general manager and co-owner of Wilson Creek Winery, said his business wants to help local artists and local causes, and Saturday's concert is one example of those goals meshing.

"My goal was to take a local artist that has national talent and expose him to the elements, so to speak - give him a platform to carry on his passion," Wilson said of Suraci. "He's a nice guy, he's good-looking, he's extremely talented. He's the whole package."

Saturday's performance will feature "Tony Suraci as The Highwayman," something the musician and his band have only debuted once before at Pala Casino.

It's a tribute concert to the original "Highwaymen" - Kristofferson, Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, who together produced several albums and were considered a country supergroup.

Suraci said he's hoping his version of the Highwaymen is the effort that will land him a regular gig in Las Vegas and beyond. He's still hoping for his "big break," he said. Meanwhile, he said he's having a blast as a popular local performer.

"I sing for a living," he said. "I can't argue with that."

Suraci, who with his tall, lean figure, hazel green eyes, and brown, flowing locks, has the look of an image found on the covers of romance novels, said he likes to leave a lasting impression on his audiences.

"I like to connect with the people," he said. "I am not the average artist. I like to get into your heart and massage it, make you go, 'Oh yeah - remember that song?'"

Suraci said he's been a performer all his life, and that acting is another passion of his. In his youth, he was constantly involved in campus theater projects.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, he moved to Fallbrook when he was 13, and graduated from Fallbrook High School in 1985. During his junior year in high school, his mother enrolled him in a sobriety program after one night of partying with his friends.

Suraci now refers to the program as a "cult." It was founded by Bob Meehan, who was the subject of a "60 Minutes" expose in 1979 for allegedly convincing people to become rabid followers of his recovery program in part by shunning the outside world.

Young and impressionable, Suraci said, he got wrapped up in the movement and, throughout his 20s, was completely sober as he worked as an unlicensed counselor for Meehan while also working as a musician.

His band at the time, "Recovery," would play to sober audiences, and the songs were all about sobriety and similar topics. During this time he also met and dated Willie Nelson's daughter, Paula.

It was then that he said he learned he could sing "just like Willie." One of his first local gigs was performing country songs at Texas Lil's in Old Town Temecula.

He also got involved in the Hollywood scene, with bit parts on the television show, "Melrose Place," the movie "Being John Malkovich," and in sound design for television and movies, working on films such as "Austin Powers."

At 30, he cut ties with Meehan's group.

"When I was sober, I looked at music as a day job that funded my acting habit," he said. "When I loosened up, I discovered rock and roll again. It felt like the days in high school. I was having fun. I loved to party."

He said what he went through during his 30s was what most people go through in their 20s. It was during this phase that he said he fell in love with creativity again, and started seriously pursuing original songwriting.

He co-owns a local recording studio, "French Valley Sound Hall," where he recorded his first CD, "Lost Time." Last year, his second CD, "My Only Faith," was produced by ZZ Top's producer of 20 years, Joe Hardy. Both albums include a mix of original and cover songs.

Always looking for other musical outlets, he created the sound design for the long-running off-Broadway play "The Syringa Tree," and worked to create the music for Paris Hilton's recent movie, "Bottoms Up," along with ZZ Top' s Billy Gibbons.

Not letting go of acting entirely, he recently filmed a movie called "Marked," which will soon debut on DVD.

He's also found time to raise a family. Although he is divorced, he remains active in the lives of his two boys, 10-year-old Anthony and 8-year-old Joseph.

His ex-wife owns the popular Murrieta Day Spa, which Suraci helped open in the mid-1990s.

"I am happy doing what I do, and I intend to do it forever, whether it's on screen or on CDs or at concert halls," Suraci said.

CONCERT WITH A CAUSE

Wilson Creek Winery is hosting a concert benefiting Jacob's Gift, a holiday party thrown each year for disabled children and their families. Tony Suraci, along with the "Mario Escovedo Xperience," is slated to perform. WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Wilson Creek Winery, 35960 Rancho California Road, Wine Country

COST: Tickets are $25 for general admission and $80 for a four-course dinner and table service during the performance.

PURCHASE TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION: (951) 699-9463; www.wilsoncreekwinery.com or www.tonysuraci.com.