Lyle Lovett [ tickets ] teams with fellow singer-songwriters John Hiatt [ tickets ], Guy Clark [ tickets ] and Joe Ely [ tickets ] for a spring tour of North America, and follows the outing with a series of outdoor summer gigs with his Large Band.

The co-headlining tour with Hiatt, Clark and Ely gets underway on Thursday (3/27) in Providence, R.I., and dates are scattered through May.

In June, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band--a 16-piece group heavy on horns--kick off a tour of small U.S. amphitheaters.

Though Lovett is known primarily for his songwriting, he hasn't released an album of original material since 1996's "The Road to Ensenada." That will change soon, however: While speaking earlier this month at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, Lovett said that he has nearly completed a new album. The as-yet-untitled album is expected to hit stores in September.

To hold fans over, Lovett released "Smile" in February, a collection of a dozen songs that he recorded for various movie soundtracks since 1992.

Before that, he was the primary composer for the score of the Robert Altman-directed film "Dr. T & the Women." Primarily a 13-track instrumental score composed and produced by Lovett, it also features previously released versions of Lovett's "You've Been So Good Up to Now" and "She's Already Made Up Her Mind"--from his 1992 album "Joshua Judges Ruth"--and a remake of "Ain't It Something" from 1994's "I Love Everybody."

The 1989 album "Lyle Lovett & His Large Band" earned Lovett a GRAMMY ^® in the Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, category. "The Road to Ensenada," picked up the Best Country Album Grammy for 1996.