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It's been eight long years since Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy released an album -- the well-received All in Time -- without the help of his bandmates.
But he's just glad he was able to record at all after a medical condition nearly prevented him from singing for good.
"The way I define myself as a musician is primarily as a singer," says Cuddy, who released his second solo disc, The Light That Guides You Home, last month. "The thought of that changing was really scary. But at the same time, there was nothing I could do with it."
Cuddy, who's been with Blue Rodeo since its inception in 1984, was diagnosed last year with polyps on his vocal cords. He had surgery and is fine, though the experience left him more than a little rattled.
"You lose notes -- you try to get up to a falsetto and ... you can't do it," he says. "It is frightening. The risk factor is very frightening."
Cuddy's recovery period coincided with Blue Rodeo's most recent tour -- a blessing, he says, since it allowed him to share vocal duties with bandmate Greg Keelor.
After the trek ended in February, Cuddy and his bandmates found themselves with a six-month window in which to pursue solo projects.
"It's a perfect exercise for your voice, because you're singing hard and then taking a break," he says of the recording process.
Cuddy wasn't the only one to make good use of his time. Keelor just put out his own solo disc -- Aphrodite Rose -- with the help of The Sadies and Sarah McLachlan a few weeks ago, while pedal steel guitarist Bob Egan is touring in support of his third CD, a collaboration with Weakerthans drummer Jason Tait.
"I think it's a great thing for a band," Cuddy says. "You have to at some point go through the self-consciousness of people working outside the band, and the threat that poses to a band. Luckily we've been through that years ago ... and we were carrying through a period of Blue Rodeo that was a lot more tumultuous than it is now."
For his solo work, Cuddy surrounded himself with a familiar crew, including Kathleen Edwards, Anne Lindsay and Blue Rodeo colleagues Bazil Donovan and Bob Packwood. He also drew inspiration from another Canadian icon whose voice has been failing him recently -- Gordon Lightfoot.
"My entry point into music was the British Invasion, but after I had made my way through that, I really liked the troubadours, the solo guys with guitars," he says. "We became aware of what it was to be a Canadian musician from him (Lightfoot), looking at all the decisions he made, to stay here ... and just be himself."
Many fans probably feel the same about Blue Rodeo and Cuddy, who says he finds the process of writing a solo record more freeing than working with a band.
"There's a finite number of times I'm going to be able to do this again," he says. "Time has given me perspective, that I'd better enjoy this while I can."