(File photo)

Sass Jordan is returning to her roots.

After months of travelling the country on the search for the next great singer, the Canadian Idol judge is putting her own talent back in the spotlight.

The singer-songwriter is kicking off a short national tour, which will bring her to the Deerfoot Inn and Casino Saturday night, in support of her 2006 CD Get What You Give.

“It came out last September, but I haven’t had the opportunity to tour on it because I’ve been too bloody busy. I mean, this is getting crazy,” says Jordan from the Idol set in Toronto. “It’s too easy to get sidetracked.”

The Montreal native, who found national fame in 1988 with the release of her platinum disc Tell Somebody, says she can’t wait to share her current material with fans.

“This is the first time I felt free to do whatever I wanted. Nobody has ever really told me what to do, but I used to feel the pressure to make a hit .

“This time I didn’t feel any of that because it no longer matters — they are unlikely to play any of my records on the radio anyway,” she says, adding her new material is less pop/rock and more blues.

“As one of the contestants on our show put it, I don’t have the I Will Always Love You pipes. So you won’t catch me singing that stuff because I wouldn’t do it justice.”

Jordan says, while she could probably promote her music on Idol or through a televised concert special, she feels music must to be heard live to be fully appreciated.

“I don’t think music has ever been done justice on television. I think that is the wrong medium for music,” she says.

“Music videos and all that kind of thing has taken away a lot of mystery and romance of it. I am old school — I am into the ability of music to emotionally shift someone.”

While Jordan has found fame on Idol and off-Broadway — she played Janis Joplin in the hit musical Love Janis — performing her own music remains her first love.

And as long as she’s able to do that, she says, she’ll be happy.

“To me life is an adventure. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?

This job on Idol will end — it could end next season,” she says, adding she never thought the gig would go more than two years.

“Really, it’s TV — it’s astounding that it’s lasted this long.”