Folk singer/songwriter Patty Griffin [ tickets ] will launch a mini-tour in late January centered on the Feb. 6 release of her new studio album, "Children Running Through."

The Texas singer will kick off her brief outing Jan. 27 in Chicago, the first of back-to-back nights in the Windy City. The highlight of the trek comes on the new album's release day, when Griffin, backed by a full band, performs at the Angel Orensanz Center in New York's Lower East Side.

Griffin plans a longer, more extensive tour beginning in March, with additional legs to be announced throughout the year, according to her publicist. Her currently confirmed dates are included below.

The folksinger worked with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon) on "Children Running Through," the follow-up to her 2005 effort, "Impossible Dream."

"I just wanted to write from the heart and let it be," Griffin said in a press release. "Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard is when you catch somebody singing to themselves. I wanted to make music that had that feeling."