Let's get this out of the way before people get confused: Sass Jordan is now Sas Jordan. She dropped an "S" because she was tired of seeing "Ass Jordan" on vandalized signs.

On the phone from home in Toronto, she laughs like hell, as she is wont to do, "The record company got really (mad), 'are you insane?!' You know what? You try going through your whole career, 'appearing tonight: Ass Jordan!' Thing is, I'd do the same thing. If I saw a marquee with that name on it, I would so love taking the first 'S' off of it. It's funny. But it's not funny after 65,000 times."

A missing "S" isn't the only change Jordan is struggling with.

Opening for Styx at the Shaw Conference Centre on Monday - mere mention of which makes her launch into a rendition of Grand Illusion - the fiery, Montreal-bred singer is one of several veteran artists caught in the marketing void between pop and rock 'n' roll. Listen to her latest album, Hot Gossip, and specifically the first single, People Talk, and you might have to check that you aren't hearing some time-warp advance copy of the new Britney Spears' album recorded in the year 2010 (she's become a little raspy with age).

It's only a few bars, and there are better, more aggressive tunes on the record, but the sugary sound and artificial drum loop is a real jolt coming from the die-hard rock chick who gave the world Make You a Believer.

"That was my attempt," Jordan says. "Pretty good, eh? It does sound like Britney for a second."

She tells a sad, familiar tale: During the summer of 1998, she and guitarist-husband Derek Sharp wrote and recorded a bunch of songs for what would become the new Sass ... sorry, Sas Jordan record. The record company hated it.

"They said it was way too rock and they'd never get it played on the radio. I don't know if you've listened to the radio. If you haven't I don't blame you. Rock is just not in fashion at all. Of course it will be again, because that's the way it goes. Meanwhile, what are you going to do when you're a recording artist and the record company that's paying for everything is saying we can't do this? We pretty much have no choice. So we said, 'Well, what do you want me to do?' And they said, 'Well, we want you to make a pop record,' at which point, I said, 'Shove it up your a--, I',m leaving.' And then of course rethought that idea and went, 'OK, well, f---, let's try.' And that's what happened. Derek and I tried to make a pop record because that's what they wanted us to do. Now I'm in the middle of making a rock record because that's what we want to do," she laughs. Working title: The Future Ain't What It Used To Be.

Don't get her wrong. She likes the way Hot Gossip turned out - "There are some amazing songs, some of the best songwriting I've ever done," she says.

Even so, "I honestly don't think my time has come. I've been around for a very long time and I don't think I've gone anywhere near what I can really do. And I think I'm just starting to do that now."

While lamenting her lack of marketing skills and some poor decisions of the past, Jordan credits herself with recent wise moves. For instance, she auditioned to be the next singer for Van Halen a few years back, and actually considered it for the big pile of money she could make. Jordan has to support her three-year-old daughter, Stella - "do not have kids!" she warns, laughing.

Then she changed her mind.

"If I had done that it would've been a dismal failure, I would've never heard the end of it. I would've been the fatal bitch who destroyed Van Halen. Forget it. I don't need that kind of crap."

She doesn't need the money that badly.

The same goes for the notion of selling one of her songs to a TV commercial (not that she'd have a choice with Make You a Believer, since she doesn't own the song's copyright; "I didn't know enough in those days," she says). The idea didn't bother her until she started hearing the music of Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen - two of her favourites - used to sell products. She found it "creepy and repulsive."

Adding it all up, Jordan is not interested in becoming the next Madonna. She'd be delighted with being the female John Hiatt.

"My main goal is to perform for people, enjoy myself, have them enjoy themselves, make them forget about their mortgages for an hour and a half," Jordan says.

"I would hate to have to deal with being Madonna or Celine Dion. They have to work constantly to keep their face of the covers of all these magazines. What kind of life do they have? I'm not that famous and yet even I, in Canada, often have - I know this sounds ridiculous - I just cause minor little ruckuses. And I'm so minor compared to these people. Can you imagine? It must be a nightmare. You must have to enjoy that kind of attention. I'm more of a shy type of person."

Please suppress your guffaws. It's true. Jordan just compensated for her natural shyness by becoming "extra extroverted."

Tickets to Styx with Sas Jordan are $42.50 and available at Ticketmaster (451-8000).