Mike Doughty's Band

"I'm making a great living, and I'm not doing shit," says Mike Doughty . This is not entirely true. From 1994 to 2000, Doughty fronted Soul Coughing, the avant-jazz-hip-hop-electronic band that helped lift alternative rock out of its grungy haze. After that group's acrimonious breakup in 2000, he walked away to perform solo, with just his guitar and oblique poetry to accompany him. The same year, he self-released Skittish; soon, that recording and a live album sold out via his website. The Rockity RollEP debuted on www.mikedoughty.com last year and is the only disc currently available. The singer-songwriter also finds outlets for his talents in published poetry, soundtrack contributions, columns for the New York Press, plays and numerous musical collaborations -- including tracks with They Might Be Giants, BT and 808 State. This year, Doughty is slated to release a record that he says will be "too indie rock for the mainstream people, too singer-songwriter for the indie-rock people and not enough beat for the hip-hop people." And for the first time in quite a while, he's touring with a band, which he is truly enthusiastic about. "It's scary in the way that all good things are scary," admits the idiosyncratic artist. A marketing guru could not have penned a better slogan for a tour that promises a rewarding experience for Soul Coughing fans and anyone who appreciates intelligent, articulate rock.