Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann [ tickets ] has nailed down the itinerary for her 2nd Annual Christmas Show tour.

The outing, which will feature surprise special guests, is set to kick off Nov. 29 in Solana Beach, CA. After a few dates on the West Coast, including a two-night stand in San Francisco, the tour will head East, and is scheduled to wrap Dec. 17-18 with two shows at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA.

Before Mann starts celebrating the holidays, she'll take part in a couple of special one-off shows this month. The singer will join a star-studded cast of artists at New York City's Carnegie Hall Oct. 10 to perform the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin in a concert to benefit Music for Youth--an initiative to support music education for underprivileged young people. She'll then head to Chicago Oct. 23 for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame series The Craft, for which she'll perform and discuss the songwriting process in a program moderated by Warren Zanes. Information on how to score free tickets to that gig is available on the message board at Mann's website.

The singer posted a blog at her MySpace page last month announcing that her next album is finished and mastered. The set, which she plans to call "Smilers," is expected to be released next year. Meanwhile, a Bobcat Goldthwait-directed video for one of the new songs, "31 Today," is streaming at the YouTube website.

Mann's most recent studio release is last year's holiday collection "One More Drifter in the Snow." The set features originals and seasonal classics, including a version of Dr. Seuss' "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" narrated by singer/songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips, who joined Mann on her Christmas tour last December.

The songstress' most recent non-holiday effort is 2005's "The Forgotten Arm," her fifth solo album since splitting with new wavers 'Til Tuesday in the late '80s.