"As I get older, I realize home is a concept that becomes more solidified in us," she muses. "One of the things that maybe makes us human beings is that no matter where we are, how our circumstances change, we always look for home, we'll scratch it out of whatever paltry circumstances we find ourselves in, and I find I can take that feeling of home around with me more.

"I'm not building it outside of myself, I'm building it inside myself."

The concept of home arises from the song Home is a Theme, from Houghton's latest effort Happybody, an album she feels states her musical aim better than the first two. "At the risk of sounding clichéd, Happybody is the work of somebody who has matured. I think my sense of my own 'musicality' and how I want to express it has matured.

"There's more of a unified intention. That's been a big word for me all through making this album and especially because of what I do, which is instrumental and not lyrical."

Without lyrics, the music still meaning, Houghton says.

"In my music, there's always a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. To me it's really important that it's not just some nice sounding chords stuck together within a key centre and presto you've got a song. Just because I don't use lyrics doesn't mean that I'm not trying to say something."

She cites the Pat Metheny/Charlie Hayden album Beyond a Missouri Sky as the direction she is striving for. "I don't want to pre-suppose what Pat Metheny was trying to accomplish with that album, but the purity of intention in that album was undeniable. I can really understand or really feel what I think he wants to do."

Happybody has a gloomy side that neither 1995's Camouflage or '98's Rocket Science has.

"The album is a bit on the dark side," she admits. "I dedicated the album to my mother, who passed away almost a year ago after being ill for a long time."

Houghton insists that the album is not her way of "dealing with it," because she doesn't feel you can necessarily "deal" with the death of a loved one. It was more a way of preparing herself. "To me, this album is me and my mom.

"This album is definitely close to my heart."

Houghton was a latecomer to the world of music; she only started playing at 21 while taking business administration at university. After being encouraged to pursue music, she dropped out of university and spent some very intense time with her guitar. "I fell in love with finger-style playing and writing stuff."

She then got a job at the Ottawa Folklore Centre, an ironic move for a girl who loved Prince and hated folk music. As she penned more and more songs, she met a host of local musicians and befriended them.

It was Lynn Miles who encouraged Houghton to make her first album - "And I did," Houghton recalls. "At the time that I made it, I wasn't keen on the whole concept of albums. I asked myself why do people need to keep putting out albums, why can't you just play?" As soon as she started trying to get gigs, she quickly realized she needed an album to prove herself.

"Camouflage and Rocket Science differ greatly. Camouflage was mostly solo, instrumental finger-stylings with a lot of open tunings. Then I started to get into a funkier mode of playing and listening to a lot of funk. I love funk music. Prince is the man for me!"

The reception for Rocket Science was not quite as Houghton would have hoped. People were telling her it wasn't like her first album; she'd been pigeonholed already.

A lot of time was spent on Happybody to get just the right mix. Houghton also had to look for a guitar to replace hers that was dropped and severely damaged on a recent tour. Finally, after shopping around in various cities, she found a Lowden that played beautifully, but was too big for her. But her "best friend and love" will be in her hands when she plays at the NAC Fourth Stage. John Geggie and Ross Murray will join her.

Another important theme for Houghton is a state of grace. She feels she has reached it with Home is a Theme. "It's as if I am trying to suspend time, trying to feel time, trying to hold time, to be aware, to be really conscious.

"Back to that idea of grace, it's something I think a lot about. Being in a state of grace for me is being fully conscious, if you can, and being respectful." She doesn't necessarily speak of grace in a religious context, but in a more secular frame. "It's a place of awareness and gratefulness."

And as much as Houghton admires singer-songwriters, she herself can't commit to saying something in a song, because "six months down the road I might totally disagree with myself.

"Intention, for me, is something that doesn't change."

ALEX HOUGHTON CD RELEASE

THURS., FEB. 7, 8 P.M., $15

NAC FOURTH STAGE

53 ELGIN ST.