It's said that a gentlemen never asks.

Being on the wrong side of gentleman status, I've never really been able to figure out what question exactly should remain unposed.

Except when it comes to personable Canadian singer Sas Jordon (a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As Sass Jordan).

"In case you're going to ask," Jordon begins almost before we even exchange hellos, "the reason I changed the spelling of my name wasn't because I'm trying to change my image or reinvent myself. I'm just trying to make it more difficult for people to write, 'Appearing tonight: ass Jordan.'

"So I changed the spelling ... and then the director of my video asked me why I changed it and I told him and he said well all they have to do now is take the 'S' off the front and put it on the end.

"I have never felt so stupid in all of my life."

On the positive side, those rearranged signs probably sell a few extra tickets.

"We'll see," Jordon laughs.

I guess we will by the amount of raincoats in attendance when Jordon opens for Styx tonight at the Stampede Corral.

But chances are those showing up have a pretty good idea of what they're in for when they see the raspy-voxed Jordon live.

Not so, when buying her CDs. Her latest disc, Hot Gossip, moves her further away from the rock sound which she originally gained notoriety for (in 1992, her album Racine earned her the nod for Female Rock Vocalist of the year by Billboard Magazine), and continues in the pop direction she embarked upon with her previous album, Present.

"At least this one has a little more balls," she says. "I was pregnant and not in the mood for it on Present."

As to why the switch in sound, Jordon is extremely forthcoming in revealing she was asked by her record label to scrap a rock record she was working on and make one that was a little more commercially viable.

But, as she says, you can take the rock out her recordings, but you can't take the rock out of the girl.

"I was challenged to make a pop record because of the climate of today's radio. So, I did that and I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I think I did a pretty good job.

"But when you see me live it's still pretty rock -- it's not very tame.

"A rock singer to me is sort of honest, brave, brash and fun.

"Whereas I find that pop music is dishonest generally, misleading, not very much fun, and heavily calculating."