Former Drive-By Truckers [ tickets ] singer/guitarist Jason Isbell [ tickets ] will launch a winter tour with singer/songwriter Will Hoge in December, as he continues to back his debut solo album.

Isbell, who departed the Southern rock band on amicable terms earlier this year, kicks off three months of steady roadwork with Dec. 14-15 appearances at Warren Haynes' Christmas Jam in Asheville, NC. The performer's co-headlining run with Hoge--who is supporting his October studio release, "Draw the Curtains," his first release for Rykodisc--kicks off Dec. 27 in Huntsville, AL, and covers more than 35 cities through the beginning of March. All dates are below.

Isbell is backed on the trek by his band of Muscle Shoals musicians, The 400 Unit, comprised of bassist Jimbo Hart, drummer Ryan Tillery, guitarist Browan Lollar and the group's newest edition, keyboardist Derry DeBorja of alt-country act Son Volt.

"I'm happy to announce that Derry DeBorja will be traveling and playing with us full-time for a while" said Isbell in a press release. "He's one of my favorite people in the world and immensely talented."

Released in July, "Sirens of the Ditch" was recorded over the past four years at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals by the native Alabaman and a backing crew that included Drive-By Truckers bassist Shonna Tucker and drummer Brad Morgan, with cameos from Truckers frontman Patterson Hood and his father David Hood.

"I think in a lot of ways these songs are different than the stuff I wrote for the Truckers," Isbell said in the online biography posted on his website. "Usually when I write, it's pretty obvious if I'm writing a Truckers song or I'm writing a song for some other purpose."

"'Sirens Of The Ditch' is more of a power-pop record than what the Truckers would normally write. The songs are more hook-oriented and they're not necessarily as story-driven."

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