Singer/songwriter John Prine [ tickets ]'s first album of original music in nearly a decade is almost complete, and is scheduled for an April 26 release on his Oh Boy label.

"It was just time," said in a press release. "I had a bunch of songs. I'd started recording 'em, and it turns out, I liked 'em pretty well. So, now, I get to get 'em all just the way I like 'em--and then I get to let 'em go out to meet the world."

He plans to tour behind the new album, with the first leg of the outing set for April. Details are in the itinerary below.

Titled "Fair & Square," the new album is Prine's first collection of original material since 1995's Grammy-nominated "Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings."

A native of Maywood, IL, Prine first emerged as a musical force more than three decades ago. After recording eight albums for major labels in the late '70s and early '80s, Prine, his longtime manager Al Bunetta and Bunetta's associate Dan Einstein formed the independent label Oh Boy Records.