Singer-songwriter "Sneaky Pete" Rizzo has a special relationship with Halloween.

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KNOXVILLE — If it’s close to Halloween, “Sneaky Pete” Rizzo is a happy man. Rizzo, who will perform only his second show since moving to Maryville, calls the show his “annual Halloween performance.”

Over lunch at Stir Fry Cafe, just across the street from the Spirit Halloween store (Rizzo’s ultimate destination on this day), Rizzo is enthusiastic about an upcoming trip to Salem, Mass.

Rizzo, whose novelty songs have appeared regularly on the “Dr. Demento” radio show, has probably written more Halloween songs than any other performer — three albums dedicated to the holiday and counting.

“You know I’ve been here a whole year and not recorded a note!” says the normally prolific Rizzo.

In 2008, he retired from a career as a professor at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He is a leading authority on the dinoflagellates — a type of algae with unusual chromosomes that are responsible for (appropriately enough) red tides.

While at the university, Rizzo had Lyle Lovett as a student and also performed in the same venues as the then-aspiring singer-songwriter.

“What a nice guy!” said Lovett in a recent interview. “I had no idea he was living (in Maryville). He and I shared this gig at a local pizza place in College Station — a Mr. Gatti’s. I played there two or three nights a week starting when I was 18 and he’d play two or three nights.”

Rizzo remembers Lovett as a good student, a good musician and an all-around nice guy.

Since the early 1960s, Rizzo juggled a career in academia with a musical hobby. In the 1980s, he began sending some of his novelty numbers to the Dr. Demento program where songs, including “Vampire Frogs,” “Booger On My Beer Mug” and “Rhinestones and Polar Bears” were enthusiastically embraced.

Rizzo’s latest album, “Cack Muck,” was recorded just before Rizzo moved to Maryville, but is just now seeing its release.

“‘Cack Muck’ is children-friendly,” says Rizzo. “The only song that is even borderline is ‘Proud Mammals.’”

“Proud Mammals” is about well-endowed women, but uses only family-friendly language.

Rizzo already has his next album project, his first in East Tennessee, planned out. The disc is tentatively titled “Smoky Mountain Mischief” and will include a song called “Crystal Mirth” — about Pseudoephedrine, which is used to make crystal meth.

“And I have one for my doctor visits,” says Rizzo. “He told me I had to watch what I eat, so before I eat ribs I watch ‘em!”