Veteran jam band Widespread Panic [ tickets ] has its 10th studio album due next month and will road test the new material during a US trek this spring.

The band is scheduled to launch the monthlong tour April 1 with a two-night stand in Washington, DC, and then wind its way around the eastern half of the country, stopping for multiple nights in New York City; Chicago; Orange Beach, AL; Savannah, GA; and Raleigh, NC. Also on the books is a May 1 gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Details are listed below.

Widespread Panic's forthcoming album, "Free Somehow," is due Feb. 12 on Widespread Records. The set will be the group's first release with new guitarist Jimmy Herring, who replaced George McConnell last fall. McConnell had joined Panic following the 2002 cancer death of founding member Michael Houser.

Most of the new songs have yet to be tested on the road, which makes the upcoming tour a live preview, according to a press release. A few tracks from the set--"Boom Boom Boom," "Flicker" and "Up All Night"--can be heard at either the band's website or MySpace page.

Another tune, "Walk on the Flood," is available for a $10 donation to the Make It Right organization, which is helping to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The members of Widespread Panic are also sponsoring a house in the neighborhood.

"Free Somehow" follows 2006's "Earth to America," which reached No. 48 on The Billboard 200 and provided the inspiration for "Earth to Atlanta," a double-DVD set that captures a live show at Atlanta's historic Fox Theatre.

Widespread Panic also recently released "Driving Songs Vol II," which is available exclusively at its download website. That set, available in download and CD formats, features 33 songs--one from each stop of the band's fall tour. Tunes include covers of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman."

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