Singer/songwriter Steve Earle [ tickets ] tours Australia and New Zealand for much of April and May, but he'll be back in the U.S. to play several concert dates in late spring and early summer.

The folk-country troubadour is currently scheduled to perform in Memphis on May 21 and in the Boston area on May 30. He's then set to tour the West in late June through early July. He'll share the bill with folk singer Joan Baez [ tickets ] from June 22-25.

Earle is the subject of the Amos Poe documentary "Just an American Boy," which was released on DVD in February. The film covers the period following the release of Earle's controversial 2002 song "John Walker Blues," a track from his "Jerusalem" album that was written from the perspective of so-called "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, and explores how Lindh may have ended up in Afghanistan.

Last year, Artemis Records released a two-disc live set titled "Just An American Boy, The Audio Documentary," which is a companion piece to the film. The live album, which features 18 songs as well as a number of Earle's on-stage monologues, was recorded last year, primarily in Bloomington, IN, and Toronto.

"Jerusalem" hit stores in 2002, and was nominated for this year's Grammy award in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category. (Nickel Creek's "This Side" ended up winning the prize.)

"The Best of Steve Earle," part of Universal Records' 20th Century/The Millennium Collection series, was also issued last year. The set culls 14 tracks from Earle's first three MCA albums.