Quirky singer/songwriter Ben Folds [ tickets ] has his third solo album on deck and he's hitting the road in the US and Europe.

The tour's US leg is scheduled to launch Sept. 6 in Philadelphia, where Folds will perform with the city's Chamber Orchestra. The coast-to-coast stateside outing, which stretches through mid-November, also includes orchestral performances in Folds' hometown of Nashville; plus Fort Wayne, IN; and Louisville, KY. Club and theater shows fill the rest of the itinerary, which is included below.

Ticketmaster (LiveDaily's parent company) and iTunes are offering fans early access to tickets when they pre-order Folds' forthcoming album, "Way to Normal," by tomorrow (8/7). Those who take advantage of the offer will be able to download two songs from the album immediately, and they'll receive two additional bonus tracks when the record drops Sept. 30.

A three-week European tour that includes a string of UK dates with the Counting Crows is scheduled to kick off in late November. Those dates can be found at Folds' website

"Way to Normal," produced by Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse), features Folds on vocals and piano with bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith. Guest vocalist Regina Spektor appears on the album's first single, "You Don't Know Me."

The record is described in a press release as "an exuberant, raucous, and sometimes profane mix of sure-fire crowd-pleasers, cheerful snark-fests and thoughtful, moving ballads that Folds wrote at the end of 2007 following the finalization of a two-year divorce." But the musician pointed out that the songs are not topical.

"I was not interested in making a record about the D-word," Folds explained in a statement. "I got all that stuff out of my system on the last record (2005's 'Songs for Silverman'), which was deliberately stoic. This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive. It's about me coming back to being myself."

One of the new high-energy singles, "Hiroshima," is being previewed at Folds' MySpace page.