The Ottawa Citizen Ottawa guitarist Alex Houghton has found her passion is writing music. 'Words are a very transient thing,' she says.

When Alex Houghton sent her new CD, Happybody, to the organizers of the New York Guitar Festival, she was just hoping to get a gig there. The festival books some pretty rare talent and broadcasts the shows on WNYC radio, a nice add-on for any performer.

This year's festival was already booked by the time they listened to the Ottawa-based instrumental guitarist's music. But they were impressed enough not to simply send a letter of regret.

Instead of performing, they wondered if Houghton would be willing to include one of her songs on a compilation CD the festival was planning.

The proceeds from the record, Guitar Harvest, will be used to fund guitar scholarships and put guitars into the hands of New York City schoolchildren with, as festival executive director David Spelman curiously puts it, "no strings attached."

That was nice enough. But what is especially sweet for Houghton is the very fine company she'll be keeping. With her on the disc -- which is being produced under the thematic banner Teachers, Mentors and Inspirations -- are Bill Frisell, Ralph Towner, Alex DeGrassi, Andy Summers (of Police fame), Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and The California Guitar Trio. Also appearing is Pierre Bensusan, the French acoustic guitar master with whom Houghton once received a Canada Council grant to study.

Houghton's contribution to the CD will be Compression, a tune from her new record that she offers in tribute to Paul Bourdeau, who, when she was 21 and studying business administration at University of Ottawa --"fulfilling my father's wish for me," she says -- gave her her first guitar lessons.

"It's very nice and it's very flattering," Houghton says of the invitation. "I would never, ever put myself in the same category as somebody like Ralph Towner. What those artists can do with their instruments, I would aspire to.

"I've been included as part of some great company, and I'll try to honour that by saying, 'Good, I'm glad that you can hear what I've put into my music.'"

What she has put into Happybody, which will be officially released at a Thursday evening concert on the National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage, is a moody collection of 11 original songs, set off gracefully with a spare string section and jazzman Kevin Turcotte's lamenting trumpet.

"With this album, I really had an idea of what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it," she says. "I wanted people to think the word 'gorgeous' when they listen to the music. And 'dark.' A lot of the songs tend towards the darker side, so I wanted to bring instrumentation that would support that."

Houghton describes her latest release, her third in the past seven years, as less funky and aggressive than her previous effort, Rocket Science, part of which may be due to the fact that Happybody was written and produced in the shadow of her mother's death a year ago.

"This album is me and my mom," she says.

When asked how she squares the album title, Happybody, with that mood, she says, "I like to think of myself of as a happy person," adding that happiness is often an emotion discovered after a period of darkness.

Her passion, she adds, is writing music, more so even than playing it, and that music itself is the story. "For me, words are a very transient thing. What you say at 27 you might not even mean a year and a half later," she explains, giving her age only as mid-30s.

"When I write, I'm trying to get to the emotion. It's pure, because everybody can feel sadness or happiness. My story may differ from yours, but you can still relate to the intention of the music."

Alex Houghton performs at 8p.m. Thursday on the NAC's Fourth Stage. Tickets, at $15, are available at the NAC box office, the GCTC (910 Gladstone Ave.) and the Ottawa Folklore Centre (1111 Bank St.).