Minneapolis roots-pop outfit the Jayhawks will embark on a short acoustic tour in advance of returning to the studio to record the followup to their 2000 release, “Smile." The tour kicks off on Friday (1/11) at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse.

For this tour, the Jayhawks will play as a trio, with leader Gary Louris, bassist Marc Perlman and drummer Tim O’Reagan onstage. Guitarist Kraig Johnson left the band last year to play full-time in his project Iffy and keyboardist Jen Gunderman has also departed. Ex-Long Ryders guitarist Stephen McCarthy joined the Jayhawks during its annual hometown holiday show in December, and he is rumored to be Johnson’s permanent replacement.

The band has not said when its new album will be released, but Jim Scott, who mixed the Jayhawks’ 1997 release, “Sound of Lies” (Columbia), has been tapped to produce.