Athens, Ga.-based Widespread Panic [ tickets ] has lined up a dozen spring concert dates that focus on the southern U.S. The itinerary includes a May 3 appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Though the highest that Widespread Panic has charted on the Billboard 200 album chart was No. 50 (1997's �Bombs and Butterflies"), the jam band is consistently among the top earners on the concert circuit. In 2000, the band�s shows took in $9.6 million and charted at No. 44 on Pollstar�s year-end list of top-grossing tours.

Last fall, Widespread Panic�s 29-date fall U.S. tour logged 16 sellout dates in 13 markets, according to the band�s publicist.

The band, which recently signed a multi-album recording agreement with Sanctuary Records, resumed recording new material last month. A new album is slated for release this summer, according to Sanctuary.

Widespread Panic's most recent album, 2000�s "Another Joyous Occasion," was the first release on the band's independent label Widespread Records. The album features 11 tracks that were recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band during the band's 1999 summer tour.