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As Steven Wilson begins a 17-date North American tour, one that will feature a half-dozen in-store appearances, it’s increasingly clear where his passion lies: On solo projects like the recently released The Raven That Refused To Sing.

Wilson has been, over the years, a model of complex efficiency — simultaneously operating under his own name while making important contributions to concurrent projects like Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He tells us, in an SER exclusive, that he’s narrowing his focus these days.

“I don’t have time in my life to do that, and what I’m doing now,” Wilson tells us.

Wilson’s new tour, which began in Tampa on Tuesday, makes its way to Atlanta next. He’ll also host an in-store event tonight at Criminal Records, where copies of a new limited-edition 12-inch Raven picture disc will be available. The Record Store Day exclusive, issued on 180g vinyl, features special demo versions of “Luminol” and “The Watchmaker.”

From there, Wilson heads to Pennsylvania’s Keswick Theater, and then to Washington, D.C., Buffalo, N.Y., Canada and elsewhere. For more details on future Steven Wilson concerts and in-store appearances, go here: www.stevenwilsonhq.com.

Meanwhile, Blackfield — founded by Wilson in 2001 with Aviv Geffen — is at work on its fourth long-player, though Wilson is understandably taking a far smaller role.

“Blackfield has made a new record, though I’m not as involved with it as much as I once was — for reasons which are obvious and apparent,” Wilson tells us. “Aviv, my partner in Blackfield, wrote all of the songs on this new record, but I still helped him to produce and record the album, and I sung on a few songs. They have some other great guest singers that have come in and sang on some of the other songs, too. So, Blackfield is certainly moving forward. The last thing I want to be doing is holding other people back.”

Porcupine Tree, however, is a different issue — since he’s the confirmed frontman of the group, rather than part of a collaborative team. That band, he says, is now on an indefinite hiatus after the release of a live set in 2012.

“I think it’s slightly more complex with Porcupine Tree, which can’t really happen without me instigating it and being the main writer and director of that situation — so, that’s more problematic,” Wilson added. “I don’t have time in my life to do that, and what I’m doing now. So, I guess I have made the decision, right now, to concentrate on the solo career. But that’s not to say that the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say. There are no plans at the moment.”