Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright [ tickets ] will sandwich in a few US dates this winter between his upcoming European tour and a trip to the Far East.

Wainwright leaves his backing band behind and goes solo for the late-year outing, which kicks off Dec. 20 in Stroudsburg, PA, and takes him to seven cities in late December and early January. Dates are listed below.

The singer's half-sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche, will open several of the US shows before Wainwright heads to Japan for the first part of a trek that will also bring him before crowds in Australia and New Zealand. All of the singer's overseas dates can be found at his official website.

Released in May, Wainwright's latest studio album, "Release the Stars," follows 2004's "Want Two" and is the singer's fifth studio effort. The record, which is his first self-produced disc, features contributions from folk/rock veteran Richard Thompson, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys and Wainwright's mother, singer Kate McGarrigle, among others.

Several songs from "Release the Stars" are streaming at Wainwright's MySpace page.

A live set, "Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall," is due from the singer Dec. 4, documenting the New York City stop of Wainwright's series of tribute shows to Judy Garland that he performed in several cities this year. Due in stores the same day is a live DVD of the singer's London Garland show, "Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy! Live at the London Palladium."