Indie-rockers Bright Eyes [ tickets ], who have been uncharacteristically absent from the road for much of the year, re-emerge in October for a two-week club tour that focuses on the West Coast.

Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M. Ward--two acts that supported Bright Eyes on a brief club tour this February--again will hold down the opening slots.

Led by 24-year-old frontman/guitarist Conor Oberst--the band's only constant member--Bright Eyes issued two new EPs in the U.S. in 2004: "Home, Vol. 4," a collaboration with Britt Daniel of Spoon, in March; and "One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels," which paired Oberst with fellow Omaha, NE, group Neva Dinova, in April.

The latest Bright Eyes album--a two-CD set with the unwieldy title "Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground"--hit stores in 2002.

Bright Eyes has also contributed a live rendition of its 2001 track "Going for the Gold" to the Barsuk Records compilation "Future Soundtrack for America," a fundraising project spearheaded by progressive non-profit organizations MoveOn.org and Music for America. That album is scheduled for release on Aug. 10.

Oberst, a native of Nebraska, began performing professionally at the age of 13, and his various bands have released seven albums. His first group was Commander Venus, which issued two albums. In late 2001, he issued the first full-length album by Desaparecidos, a harder-edged rock group.

Members of Commander Venus started Saddle Creek Records, Bright Eyes' label, in the mid-'90s. Its roster now features acts including Cursive and The Faint, and has put Omaha on the map as a musical hotbed.