Blues-rock duo The Black Keys [ tickets ], who recently inked their first major-label deal, have lined up a series of dates in the West and Northeast, along with plans to issue a new album.

The outing gets underway Sept. 6 in Seattle, the first of a half-dozen shows in Western states. A European jaunt, detailed on the group's official website, will follow. Finally, a four-city Northeastern US jaunt opens Nov. 2 in Boston.

In the midst of the outing--on Sept. 12--the group's debut set for Nonesuch Records, "Magic Potion," is due in stores. The album, which is the duo's fourth, follows 2004's critically acclaimed indie release "Rubber Factory."

Staffed by guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, The Black Keys formed in their hometown of Akron, OH, in 2002, and issued their first album, "The Big Come Up," the same year.

Undeterred by an almost complete lack of income, the pair set out across the United States in a beat-up hatchback, according to their official bio, playing small clubs whenever they got the opportunity. Semi-fame beckoned when Rolling Stone magazine gave "The Big Come Up" a four-star review.

Auerbach and Carney recorded and produced "Magic Potion" in Carney's basement studio on Akron.

"Unlike all the other records, where we were just trying to figure out how everything worked, or pretending like we knew what we were doing by experimenting with mic placement, this one we just figured out what we liked and stuck to it," Carney said in a press release. "The whole record has a more consistent sound, and it's a little bit heavier than our other records."