Minneapolis roots-pop outfit the Jayhawks will embark on a short acoustic tour in advance of returning to the studio to record the followup to their 2000 release, “Smile." The tour kicks off on Friday (1/11) at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse.

For this tour, the Jayhawks will play as a trio, with leader Gary Louris, bassist Marc Perlman and drummer Tim O’Reagan onstage. Guitarist Kraig Johnson left the band last year to play full-time in his project Iffy and keyboardist Jen Gunderman has also departed. Ex-Long Ryders guitarist Stephen McCarthy joined the Jayhawks during its annual hometown holiday show in December, and he is rumored to be Johnson’s permanent replacement.