After a few years working here as a promoter and musician, Krist Krueger left Madison the way many people end up leaving, during the "wonderful insanity that is August 15."

"My lease was up and I was basically faced with the decision to renew my lease or hit the road and start touring," he said. Perhaps taking a cue from his Hungarian gypsy blood, the Fond du Lac native took to the road and toured full-time for the next three and a half years.

Krueger, best known as the main man behind indie rock group Southerly, now lives in Portland, Ore. He's on another one of his road warrior tours and will be in Madison at the Project Lodge, 817 E. Johnson, this Saturday, August 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $6.

His current tour is an effort to distinguish himself from Southerly, which started as a solo project but turned into a full band in recent years. His solo show at the Project Lodge (with Mike Dixon on drums and percussion) will pare down the layered, orchestral sound of Southerly into the "bare bones structure of songs."

His inspiration for keeping complex songs simple and accessible at their core comes from Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Krueger has been enamored with Wilson's songwriting since he was eight years old, when his dad took him to one of Wilson's concerts.

"The way he layers certain instruments -- he's probably one of the best songwriters. It's complex but it's palatable," he said.

Part of making songs accessible is knowing when to stop, he added: "If it's the best chorus you've ever written in your life, it's better to do it as little as possible. It makes the song more special, makes people want to play it over and over. I don't think I've ever written a song that was more than five and a half minutes long. I like short songs that come in, make their point and then leave. Three and a half minutes is the perfect length."

It's easy to envision the touring life as a hectic, discombobulated existence that doesn't bode well for reflection and songwriting. But Krueger has toured so much that he's found a rhythm to his makeshift home on the road. He spends much of his time driving and listening to music and talk radio in the car. "Coast to Coast AM" with George Noory is his current favorite ("They talk about aliens, (jet) contrails and other conspiracy theories.")

"There's a lot of time for reflection," he said. Despite what the less itinerate might think, he said, traveling to a new venue every day doesn't cause all the cities to blend together and look the same. Every city has its unique restaurants, bars, clubs and sets of friends to visit.

By the time he gets back in the studio to write and record an album, the music is already in his head. One blog writer -- Ben Squires at Music Spectrum (www.musicspectrum.org) -- called it "brooding, rolling, internalized kind of music ... Southerly is the music that could've been in my ears as my head was against the bus window watching the lane lines fly by. The music is sad with racing emotions about love and loss but also rises up like the excitement of travel and adventure."

In September 2007, Krueger started a Song-A-Week project, making it seven weeks and seven songs before a tour in Spain distracted him. Those seven songs were released as downloads on Greyday Records. He'd eventually like to return to the Song-A-Week project once he gets back to Portland and sets up his computer to record again.

The Song-A-Week project "wasn't like writing an album where you need to have a constant flow throughout. We didn't have to stick to a storyline or genre. It was really freeing," he said.

Krueger is known for taking a very do-it-yourself approach to music. Before Southerly filled out into a four-piece band, he played all the instruments, produced the recording and did all the promotion. He still tries to do as much as possible himself.

"I typically have a really good idea of what I want. It's easier than trying to describe it to someone else," he said. One of his favorite collaborators is Ryan Heise, who plays in Southerly, and spent some time in Madison with his band System and Station. That band also since relocated to Portland, but will be back in town on September 5 at the Frequency.

"He knows what I want. It doesn't take long," Krueger explained.

Krueger will be coming out with a solo album at the end of this year or beginning of 2009, but in the meantime, he's enjoying the nonstop touring. He's been inviting fans and friends in each city to hang out before the show, eat dinner and maybe play a game of wiffleball (as he did recently in Pierre, South Dakota).

"It's summertime and we love cooking out. Come out early."