Pixies frontman Frank Black [ tickets ] will go solo this summer, forgoing the burden of a full backing band to support his new album, "Fast Man Raider Man," due in stores June 20.

Black will play a mix of his own solo acoustic shows and support dates for Foo Fighters during parts of their summer tour, kicking off the trek Aug. 9 in Salt Lake City.

"I'm excited about these dates," Black said in a press release. "I like doing solo shows, it's a very intense and personal experience, very different from playing with a band. I like the idea that I don't have to 'follow the beat,' that I can pull the songs a part a little bit, change the set right there on stage if I want. And playing theaters is the best kind of venue to see a concert--everyone's sitting down, relaxed, and ready to be entertained."

The solo dates are the singer/guitarist's first since 1995. Over the last decade he has toured extensively with several backing units, the longest lasting of these being The Catholics, with whom he recorded five albums in the late '90s and early years of this decade, the last of which was the 2002 combo of "Black Letter Days" and "Devil's Workshop."

Black, of course, was also front and center during the celebrated Pixies reunion over the last couple of years.

"Fast Man Raider Man," Black's 11th solo album since the original breakup of the Pixies in 1992, was recorded over a two-year period at studios in Nashville and Los Angeles, and features a long list of accomplished guest musicians, including The Band's Levon Helm, legendary keyboardist Al Kooper, and bassist Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick.