Country singer Dierks Bentley [ tickets ] has unveiled the initial batch of 2007 dates for his in-progress "Locked & Loaded" tour, which is now scheduled to make a sweep through Canada in the New Year.

Following his latest leg of touring--which runs until early December--Bentley will take a holiday break, then return to the stage for a Jan. 8 performance in Vancouver, British Columbia. In all, about a dozen Canadian shows are stacked up for that month. Details are shown below.

The "Locked & Loaded" outing, which is booked into small arenas, features general-admission tickets for the floor seats in an effort to "recreate the intimate feeling of the smaller club shows [Bentley] has played over the last four years," according to a press release.

"I've really shaped my career around my live show because that's where it started for me ... playing for nothing but tip jars and alcohol," Bentley said in a statement. "If we do it right, the fans won't even notice we are in a bigger venue this time around."

Bentley's setlist features music from his forthcoming album, "Long Trip Alone." Due in stores next Tuesday (10/17), the set features the single "Every Mile a Memory."

Next week, Bentley will help launch "Long Trip Alone" with a Monday (10/16) appearance on NBC's "The Today Show," during which he'll perform "Every Mile a Memory" and "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do," according to a press release. That same day, he and his band will appear on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

"Long Trip Alone" follows last year's "Modern Day Drifter." Over the past year, Bentley has logged more than 180,000 miles and more than 300 days on the road, according to a press release.

"I think every album has been a snapshot of where I’ve been at that moment in time,” Bentley said in a statement. “['Long Trip Alone'] is a conscious effort to tie in the road and the studio. There's a vein throughout the whole album of the bigger thoughts and questions that you have when you spend too much time on the road, and you grow up a little bit and start thinking beyond songs about beer and little white tank tops. From the outset, this record was always going to be really different than the previous records."

Bentley recently was nominated for a CMA Award in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. The winner will be named during the Nov. 6 awards ceremony at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center that will air live on ABC.