For the most part, the passage of time has been kind to Ian Tyson. His reputation as a pioneer of the 1960s folk revival has only been burnished with time, and the royalties that come with having been a member of the popular folk duo Ian & Sylvia have provided the financial security that allows him to run a working cattle ranch in his beloved Alberta, Canada.

But when he lost his voice a few years ago, he'll admit that that was tough.

"It was a shocker when my voice gave out, and I had to really try to find a way, an avenue through this mess and try to be able to deliver my stories and my lyrics to my audience," Tyson said by phone from his ranch recently, where he had just come in from installing a new water trough for his cattle.

"It was pretty scary for a while there."

His most recent album, last year's "Yellowhead to Yellowstone and Other Love Stories," finds him singing in a pretty hoarse voice -- far different from the rich, strong baritone fans remember. Tyson said that's his new voice, and he's learning to live with it.

"I'm taking a holistic approach -- I'm working with a homeopathic doctor, and it's totally working; my voice is clearing. I can tell the difference. The last couple of weeks, I've really noticed the difference -- all that stuff she has me taking: juniper juice and all kinds of strange things. All legal, I might add!

"I like my new voice, and my audience does, too. I don't want it to be completely cleared, I just don't want it to deteriorate."

While Tyson said he's noticed the current resurgent popularity of folk music, he said his career isn't really affected by the waxing and waning trends in music.

"My audience is kind of an autonomous audience of people who have usually followed me for a lot of years, and they're very loyal, and they come and support me.

"The new album, they've really taken to it. They seem to feel the voice makes the stories more intimate, a sort of intense kind of intimacy."

Among the tracks on that album is one that might have special resonance when he performs Friday night at Acoustic Music San Diego, which rents out space in the Normal Heights United Methodist Church. One verse of that song refers to a previous AMSD show: "The tall palms of San Diego / Silhouetted in the rain / In a church almost celestial / We sang the old songs once again."

"I enjoyed San Diego -- and it was just exactly the way I described it in the song: The rainy day and palm trees surrounding the pool at the hotel -- it was very nice, actually."

That Tyson's music career can survive the loss of his singing voice might not be as big a surprise as you might presume, once you learn that his entire musical career came about because of serious injuries suffered in a rodeo fall more than half a century ago. Recuperating from that, he picked up a guitar to entertain himself.

"I was trying to learn 'I Walk the Line' by Johnny Cash. I never dreamed I'd later meet him and be on his show. I only knew a couple of chord patterns that you could find."

Even though he returned to the rodeo circuit after he recovered, he was also playing and singing at coffeehouses and other venues -- although he said his nerves were pretty bad the first few times he played in public.

"I remember being absolutely terrified. But I had so much adrenaline that I guess that was my admission, my down payment, and they seemed to go for it."

He left the rodeo soon after that, but music still wasn't his career -- not yet.

"I graduated from art college in the late '50s, and was going to make a career out of commercial art. And I worked at it for a year or two, and I held a job down -- but the music was becoming more and more accessible. It became obvious that I could make 15 bucks a night playing and singing, and that was way more than I was making in the commercial art business."

All these decades and millions of albums sold later, Tyson said that combination of horses and music is still what defines his life.

"The cowboy lifestyle and the horse things was always very big in my life, and it became bigger and bigger as I was able to afford that kind of lifestyle. The one aspect augmented the other. And does to this day, for that matter."

Ian Tyson

When: 7:30 p.m. May 22

Where: Acoustic Music San Diego, 4650 Mansfield St. (Normal Heights United Methodist Church), San Diego

Tickets: $30

Info: 619-303-8176 or acousticmusicsandiego.com

Web: iantyson.com

CORRECTION: Date of performance misstated

Ian Tyson will perform at the Normal Heights United Methodist Church on Friday, May 22. We apologize.