Jim Cuddy is all out of "me" time.

After cruising solo for nearly a year, the Blue Rodeo frontman is not only back with his band -- he suddenly finds himself in a bewildering collaboration with French-Inuit duo Taima at Festival du Voyageur this weekend.

"I'm trying to figure out how to sing in Inuit," he says from his Toronto home.

The unusual pairing -- headlining Festival's Pour un soir seulement (For One Night Only) concert on Saturday -- has him fusing his country-rock with Taima's aboriginal folk -- two entirely different genres, as far as he's concerned.

"Usually, these kind of things where they pair people up, there's a closer connection with the styles of music," he says. "I'm actually challenged by this.

"I assume that once we get together, it'll be obvious what we can do, and what we can't. Maybe it's not realistic to think that I can sing along."

Not that he can't handle the pressure. After all, Cuddy cut and toured his second solo album The Light That Guides You Home -- which picked up two Juno nods this week -- months after having polyps removed from his vocal cords. Still, putting his one-man-show aside to regroup with Blue Rodeo bandmates is easier said than done.

"It's a little difficult to change modes. I got myself so much into solo mode and I have to get back into writing mode."

And playing mode. When Blue Rodeo reunited late last year, they sounded, as Cuddy puts it, "terrible."

"It's always proof of why we don't take many breaks."

The band are penning tunes for a followup to 2005's Are You Ready, due to be released in fall, followed by a winter tour. But first, Cuddy feels the joie de vivre at his Festival debut tomorrow at 7 p.m. Rocker Steve Hill, singer-songwriter Daniel Lavoie and French hip-hoppers Loco Locass and Manu Militari are also on the bill. Tickets cost $25 at 237-7692.