Oh, to live that dream -- to run away with the circus.

To know the joys of joining the ragtag fleet of human and animal debris, and experience such exotic wonders as shaving the bearded lady and giving the fat guy a sponge bath.

Last year, West Coast songwriter Kinnie Starr was given the opportunity to live that dream -- sort of.

It wasn't the real circus, but rather Cirque du Soleil and its Vegas show Zumanity.

And there definitely weren't any bearded ladies.

"Their idea for it was to be a really raw and sexy show, so the people they hired -- it was a very sexy cast," says Starr from her Vancouver home. "They wanted me to basically do what I do."

What Starr does, as anyone who's been following her career in Canada for the past decade can attest, is write and perform brash and, yes, sexy folk-pop hip-hop rock.

Unlike other Cirque shows she'd auditioned for where the roles were already written, it seemed the perfect fit.

Unfortunately, after six months in Vegas, Starr found she didn't have the competitive cutthroat showgirl nature and so, with no regrets, she and the company amicably parted ways.

Which is fine by Starr -- it gives her more time to concentrate on her own solo career, which was bolstered last year with the release of the disc Sun Again.

The album, Starr's third and first for Maple Music, finds her teaming with other writers from Vancouver's music community such as Lily Frost and Moka Only.

The reason that it was such a collaborative effort is because Starr admits at that time she wasn't all that into songwriting, and the friends and talent around her were more than eager to help.

That's changed -- her disinterest in writing -- partially because of the rigid structure of her life in the circus.

"I was so inspired from working with Cirque because I was so restricted with what I could do ..." she says. "When I got out of that contract, I wrote 11 songs in three weeks."

And, after a decade in the industry, Starr says she's just now learning to trust in all the songwriting and singing skills she's gained.

"I'm just starting to get good at what I do," says Starr, who shows off her talents tomorrow night at Mount Royal College's Liberty Lounge.