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They were due for a break.
Blue Rodeo had just returned from touring their 2005 album, Are You Ready, and frontmen Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor asked themselves, 'What do you want to do now?'
"(Jim) said he wanted to do a solo album, so I figured, well, I guess I'll do one too ... I'm going to have all this extra time on my hands," says Keelor, who will be in town to play songs from his new record, Aphrodite Rose, with The Sadies at Mac Hall on Oct. 27.
"It's gonna be a blast," he says.
And having a blast is what Keelor hoped to accomplish with this new album.
"My previous solo albums (1997's Gone and 2005's Seven Songs for Jim) were so full of subtext and melancoly," says Keelor.
Not that he minded that, but he wanted Aphrodite Rose to be an album full of "amateuristic joy."
"I wanted to do it all myself," says Keelor, who explains though his talents as a drummer are merely passable, he was keen on playing every instrument on the album.
"Then I realized I would have been there forever."
That's when The Sadies -- an alternative country-rock act from Toronto -- were brought in to help.
"The great thing about bringing someone fresh in is you could have been in a rut for a couple of years and not even known it," says Keelor.
"It helps you remember the limitless possibilities of life that music offers.
That's where the idea of 'amateuristic joy' comes in.
Keelor says he wanted to capture the pure love for music he remembered feeling when he heard inspiring songs and artists when he was younger.
"When you're young, in like three minutes of a song, or that opening snare beat of (Bob Dylan's) Like a Rolling Stone ... the possibilities are limitless."
"You realize you don't necessarily have to do those things that have been laid out before you. The world is full of choices and horizons.
"It's more the possibilities of the music that I really love."
He looks back on the original British invasion, when bands such as Cream and The Beatles swept in with their rock-tinged tunes, as a moment in history he wanted to capture.
"They were just playing music for the sake of playing music ... because they loved it," says Keelor.
This love of what music offers shines through on Aphrodite Rose.
Keelor is obviously having fun on this record.
And that joy was helped along by one of Canada's sweetest voices, Sarah McLachlan.
Keelor and McLachlan had worked together several times in the past, including on the song Dark Angel from Five Days in May, a track Keelor refers to as "probably the best recording I've ever done."
"We were great friends, and for whatever reason I hadn't really seen her all that much in the past 10 years or so," says Keelor.
"So I had this solo album I felt was worthy of her beauty and grace and elegance ... and I called her up and asked her if she'd like to be on it and she graciously accepted."
But guest appearances aside, Keelor says Blue Rodeo fans don't need to worry: The band is still together, and the relationship between Keelor and Cuddy is stronger than ever.
"It's more than just a friendship, we're like brothers," says Keelor.
Keelor even credits Cuddy with making him want to learn how to play the guitar.
"I didn't start playing guitar until I saw him hanging out with his friends, drinking beer and getting high and playing music. I just said 'I wanna do that.' "
Tickets for Keelor's show can be purchased through Ticketmaster.