It's 11 a.m. in Hartford and and Amanda Stott doesn't know what to do with herself. Rehearsals for Delirium don't start for five hours -- and Connecticut's a long way from Brandon.

"We have weird schedules for some reason," she says from her hotel. Cirque du Soleil's travelling arena spectacle fittingly runs on a rock clock -- a switch from the farm routine Stott grew up with.

Not that she's complaining. Since she's become one of Delirium's six singers, the country-popster's become a gushing tourist.

"We spent about a week in Philadelphia and we were there on July 4, and in Philly it was a big deal because that was where the Declaration of Independence was signed," she says.

Having never toured outside Canada -- never mind with a troupe of musicians, dancers and acrobats -- the 24-year-old is gaining independence in her own right.

"It never came into my mind that this is what I'd be doing," says Stott, who hadn't even seen a live Cirque show. "But I haven't let my solo career fall in the dust. I'm still working on a new record."

Her last CD, Chasing the Sky, was in 2005. Since joining Delirium in June, she's been writing new songs on the road -- but she won't have time to do much more. Aside from a Christmas break, the tour continues until 2007, with major stops in Las Vegas, L.A. and New York.

The Montreal outfit approached her to audition in January. Months later, she was called back to fill in for a singer who quit. After only a week of "gruelling" rehearsals, Stott hopped the bus in June.

"It was definitely like going to your first day at school to a new place because everyone knew each other and I was a new kid," she says. "To be on stage with that many people at one time was kind of intimidating, because I'm just used to being up there with my piano and a couple of other guys ... But there haven't been any major collisions yet."