There on the coffee table, next to the beer-box model of a sauna he plans to build, you could see it plain as day. His foot. The one he has firmly planted here. For years a transitory soul, Mandan native Ben Suchy has settled down. As much as he can, anyway.

Suchy bought a house in Bismarck recently and performs regular gigs every Monday at the East 40 Chophouse and Tavern, and Wednesday at The Pier at Southport Marina.

"If I'm going to be a washed-up musician, at least I'll have a roof over my head," he said.

Suchy considers his new residence a home base, a consistent place to hang his hat during the week. He still tours relentlessly through the region on the weekends and is as prolific as ever in the studio. Just a year after the release of his fourth album, "Head for Home," Suchy has about six tracks ready for a new disc. It should be ready next spring.

Many of the songs on "Head for Home" were written or conceived a couple of summers ago while Suchy was traveling the country and living in his van. Intentional or not, the solo album had a folk feel to it, including some wistful reminiscences of the prairie not entirely unlike the themes in some songs by folk musician Chuck Suchy, Ben's father.

He still likes to play his lap-slide guitar and has even gotten into writing some country songs, but now that he's home, the songs from "Head for Home" have, appropriately, dissolved into the background. Suchy is devoted for now to a new project called Ben Suchy Bandwith.

Yes, Bandwith.

It's a play on words Suchy came up with earlier this year, after seeing his slot on concert bills listed as "BEN SUCHY with band." He thought Ben Suchy Bandwith had a better ring to it. So the solo musician added Mike Reetz and Darren King to the fold. The trio tours Thursday through Sunday and, as mentioned, is six tracks deep into its first album. The sound is a lot funkier, though the songs are still steeped in blues and folk. The Bandwith album, he said, will have a roots-rock sound a la Jack Johnson, G. Love and Ben Harper.

His weekly solo gigs in Bismarck pay the bills for Suchy's studio time and his tours.

"People ask me all the time why I'm up in North Dakota," Suchy said. "I can do well up here. My regular gigs fund the tours. When Iplay in Minneapolis, I expect to lose money, but it's an investment. That's a scene where I could do well, too. This has been my most profitable year, but it's also the year where I've spent the most money."

It's been a successful year, too, at the East 40, where chef and co-owner Matt Levine said Suchy has brought in a new crowd on Monday nights, when the restaurant hosts "Sake and Sushi with Suchy."

"It's been great for us to have the music in addition to our sushi night,"Levine said. "Ben has a following and brought some of that crowd in. It has evolved over last year to a very diverse crowd of people of all ages."

Suchy said he rolls most of the money he makes back into his music. That counts dollars from his solo shows, Bandwith performances and gigs with his hobby bands the Funky Arabs and the V-Dubs. He also has sent his country songs out into the Nashville ether, hoping for a bite.

"I have a lot of lines out in the water with a lot of different bait, trying to hook different fish," Suchy said. "My phone could ring right now and change my life. Ican see this future where Ican really start focusing totally on the art. Right now I spend more time on the computer than the guitar. I'm getting really good at typing."

To get to that next level, Suchy said he plans to hire a publicist and someone to concentrate on the business side of his music.

"I want to try to sculpt a marketable package, but something Ifeel good about,"he said. "That's why Ihave one foot planted here. This place is like a compass for me, but I'm trying to keep a national perspective."

Catch up with Suchy weekly at the East 40 (7 to 10 p.m. Mondays) and The Pier (9:15 p.m. to close Wednesdays). Also check him out at www.bensuchy.com.