David Archuleta will appear at the Wells Fargo for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but he is no stranger to Santa Rosa and Sonoma County.  He performed a similar Christmas concert at the WFC two years ago and has since visited the area.

“A couple of years ago. during my first Christmas tour was the first time I was inSanta Rosa,” Archuleta said last week in a phone conversation while he was on a tour stop inIdaho.

“Actually I was inSanta Rosaa couple of months ago, too. I was visiting family in northern California and I went up there to visit a friend who lives there. We were in Santa Rosa for a day and then went over the mountain into Napa.”

Archuleta has relatives, including his grandmother, who live in Livermore and will be in attendance Tuesday night. 

Maybe his one humorous memory ofSanta Rosa came during that last visit. It was on a Sunday and while attending services at the LDS church in Rincon Valley he was recognized by a group of younger fans. It was at that point,  near the end of the service that he made a bee-line out the back door and into a waiting car.

“Well, it wasn’t a limo, it was just a rental car.,” he said laughing at the memory of the moment. “Sometimes, if there are a lot of girls, I leave in a hurry … but I mean I’m a lot better than I was before. But sometimes I get a little nervous around people like if it happens in places where it’s not supposed to be … like church. But a lot of times I’ll leave like right before the meeting is about to end. Sometimes I’ll stay but it just depends on the atmosphere.

“And oh, yes,” he laughed again, “that really did happen there.”