Ben, frankly Mr. Folds says the song’s the thing BY BOB GULLA

As the big dinosaur known as the music industry paws around searching for a new business model by which to service its billions, so too has Ben Folds, only, of course, on a humbler and smaller scale. Folds, who plays Newport this weekend and now qualifies as a one-man band, is much more agile in his business and his art. Right now, he’s on the verge of releasing three successive EPs, which he’ll sell on-line on CD and at retail on, of all things, vinyl. The first installment will be out this month. (He’ll also have an EP later this summer with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee called The Bens.)

" I like putting out a record without the pain, " the singer-songwriter-pianist said in a recent phone interview. " When I’m ready, I just go and start working on it. If I waited for all the bullshit at a record company, I’d never finish anything. This way, I finish a record and can have it available on-line in like two weeks. "

The EP format also agrees with Folds, one of pop’s most original and humorous talkers. " I didn’t realize until recently how evil album releases have become over the last few years, how expensive it is and how much bullshit work goes into it. Whether the album has died as a format or not — probably not — is not my decision. But it certainly is not gonna be the only thing. Us old-timers may cringe at the thought of that format going by the wayside. But it’s a really good development.

" Don’t get me wrong, I like to do a collection of songs as much as the next guy. But when I step back, it doesn’t have to be that precious. It doesn’t need to be listened to in sequence sitting right between the speakers. It’s totally cool for something to be disposable. "

Since reorganizing his act a couple years back, going from a power trio frontman to solo piano man, Folds has freed himself up to do as he pleases when he pleases. Even though he is still in possession of a major label recording contract, there’s a minimum of games he’s called on to play.

" The record business is fucked, it’s not well, " he said. " But myself, I’m doing much better now in every category that means something to me, even better than when I had a hit. I play to audiences twice as big, I have more freedom artistically, and my career is thriving in a depression. It’s been a typical backwards mentality for me all along. "

Of course, there are some contradictions that Folds has to fight. " I have to take my lumps for having integrity, which is a daily process, believe me, " he said. " If I were one of the golden few like, say, Ryan Adams, who didn’t sell records but got good reviews, I’d happily release records and just bliss out. Right now, I don’t kiss this long list of asses. I do things the way I want to. "

Still, Folds is the first one to admit that kissing a long list of asses helps sales. " I played the game enough to feel bad about it, " he admitted, " but also enough to get the good from it. Up until Rockin’ the Suburbs, I played the game half-heartedly. ‘OK, line up 50 asses!’ Then I got to ass number 10 and I couldn’t kiss the other 40. I couldn’t. I realized after a while that none of us know what we’re doing so you have to follow your own heart. "

And so it goes for Ben who, having taken " the long cut, " has come full circle to a place in which he now feels some degree of comfort. Live performance, his bread and butter, has now become the emphasis. He’ll be touring with Tori Amos later this summer. He now sells more tickets to shows than CDs and has begun to understand his role as an entertainer.

" I remember reading a story where the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne says he felt like he’s just the entertainer for the night. He leaves a gig, life goes on for everybody. " Like the Lips, Folds doesn’t have a trendy agenda to disseminate. He’s not Beck, who leaves audiences feeling the pressure to conform to some out-of-reach hipness. " I’m just playing my songs. The songs have to carry things, not the clothes, or the celebrity in the audience. The song highlights the lyrics. I grew up thinking that the presentation was about the presentation and not about the songs. I’m discovering now that the songs are pretty good, too. "

Ben Folds performs on Saturday, July 5 at the Sunset Music Festival at the Newport Yachting Center with Dante Mazzetti and Eric Fontana. Call (401) 846-1600, ext. 2, or go to www.sunsetmusicfestival.com.