SOAP STAR FRESHENS UP HIS ACT

Monday, Oct. 15, 2007 | 7:24 a.m.

Who: Rick Springfield with special guest Eddie Money

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Star of the Desert Arena, Primm Valley Resort

Tickets: $32.95 and up; 386-7867

The recording industry was always tough, but new technology has made it even tougher.

"The industry has virtually collapsed," 57-year-old rocker Rick Springfield said during a telephone interview from his home in Southern California. "Everyone is looking for a new way to get their new music heard. That's one of the reasons I'm still on the road, to play new music."

You can hear some of his new music when he performs Saturday in Primm .

"I start my shows with a new song that hasn't been recorded yet," said Springfield, who performed at the MGM Grand in the special effects musical "EFX" for a couple of years.

When the show closed in early 2003 to make room for "Ka," Springfield went back to touring, making records and playing Dr. Noah Drake on "General Hospital," a role he created in the mid-'80s and put aside to come to Vegas.

Would he come back to do another show here?

"We've talked about it and I've entertained offers, but that was a pretty amazing show," Springfield said. "If I did another , it would have to be a spectacular show like that. I'd want to do something at least that great. I really enjoyed do ing it."

But he loves to tour, as well.

"That's basically what I've been doing since leaving 'EFX.' "

That and making records. His latest is his first Christmas album, "Christmas With You" - the name of the album and a single on it. It's scheduled to be released Nov. 6, and proceeds from the single will benefit American Gold Star Mothers Inc.

"I felt like it was the right time to do it," he said. "I built a studio and it's the first thing we did in there."

He's also working on a CD of new original material, which he plans to release early next year, and he's making plans to perform on a cruise to the Bahamas.

He just returned from a month's tour in Australia, his native country, which he left in 1972 to come to the United States to pursue his musical career.

His tours usually take place on weekends.

"We tour all year that way and don't get bored or go crazy and miss our families," Springfield said. "There are still bands going out a year at a time. I don't know how they do that."

Maturing may make a difference.

Springfield says his music has evolved dramatically over the years.

"Certainly lyrically," he said. "My understanding of how to put a song together has changed. You learn from different people as you go along, from different songs. I'm a great listener, every musician is.

"I'm a better writer than I was. I know how to work it a little better. I'm still very passionate about writing."