Phil Lesh [ tickets ] and Friends, on the eve of commencing a spring U.S. tour, have announced a month-long series of summer dates that will begin in late June.

The group is scheduled to kick off its spring outing--dubbed the Here Come Sunshine Tour--on Friday night (4/13) in Ft. Lauderdale, and dates for that run are scheduled through the end of the month. A roughly two-month break follows before the summer jaunt--dubbed Odyssey--gets underway.

Tickets for several of Lesh�s upcoming summer dates can be ordered through the Grateful Dead�s ticketing service; additional on-sales will be added soon.

The former Grateful Dead bassist�s current outfit comprises a number of renowned jam-band veterans, including Rob Barraco (keys), Warren Haynes (guitar-vocals), Jimmy Herring (guitar) and John Molo (drums).

Barraco is a former member of New York-area Grateful Dead cover band Timberwolf and, more recently, the Zen Tricksters. He left the Tricksters--formerly a Dead cover band themselves known as the Volunteers--last year to become a full-time member of Lesh�s group.

Herring is a veteran of the Dead-inspired jazz outfit Jazz Is Dead, and also replaced estranged Allman Bros. Band guitarist Dickey Betts on that group�s 2000 tour.

Grammy-award winner Molo�s Dead-related history includes stints behind the kit for the Other Ones--founded by former Dead members Mickey Hart and Bob Weir, and formerly featuring Lesh--as well as Hart�s Planet Drum outfit.

Haynes is currently pulling double duty, serving in both Lesh�s band and his own group, Gov�t Mule. The latter act has a brief tour of its own scheduled in May, sandwiched between Lesh and Friends� spring and summer outings. Details appear in the itinerary below.