It's been nearly 20 years since Bob Wiseman left Canadian super group Blue Rodeo, but even now, some fans still wonder why.
But Wiseman's been following a more ethereal muse since leaving the band in 1992 to become a provocative, highly regarded and multifaceted artist who is equally at home scoring movies, writing plays and making short musical films as he is writing songs.
"If you look at the work I've made since leaving Blue Rodeo, you'd see that I didn't fit in," says Wiseman.
"It was artistically limiting, the same thing over and over. Being in the band like Blue Rodeo was a 24/7 commitment. You might play for an hour a day, but the rest of your time was taken up doing the things we had to do to be successful. After a while, it didn't work for me any more. Leaving allowed me to get somewhere really important."
Like releasing 13 of his own records, including the recent 20th anniversary edition of his first solo record In Her Dreams as well as eight short films and dozens of scores for films by Adrian Brody, June Chua and Bruce McCulloch. He's also played with Final Fantasy, Barenaked Ladies, Ron Sexsmith, Robbie Robertson and Wilco.
It's also meant that the politically vocal Wiseman could be as controversial as he wanted and his alt-pop music often carried explosive lyrics. He recently turned the most bizarre of his legal encounters into a new, autobiographical play called Actionable, including the time pop superstar Prince sent Wiseman a blunt warning not to appropriate the name after the Purple One had dropped it to become a symbol.
But mostly he's been concentrating on expanding the experience of live music by making short whimsical films and animation that accompany his songs, many of them starring his celebrity pals Leslie Feist and comedian Scott Thompson. You can catch most of them on YouTube.
He'll screen a few when he plays a solo show at the Blacksheep Inn on Sunday because he sees them as a visual component of the music.
"Fans will often talk when you're playing music in a bar, but they get very quiet when the films begin, I think because it's a confusing new experience. Ultimately, it's makes for a strong marriage between the visual and the musical."
The last time he was in Ottawa was in April, when he performed at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. His favourite things about Ottawa? China Doll, the karaoke singer at Shanghai, the Blacksheep Inn, Vanier, the Green Door restaurant, SAW Gallery and eccentric celebrity-spotter Sanjay Mohanta.
"It's such as weird, wonderful place with so many characters. I'm comfortable there."
