A string of tour dates focusing on the northeastern U.S. has been lined up by Grateful Dead spin-off group Phil Lesh [ tickets ] and Friends.

The oft-changing band, which currently features bassist Lesh, John Molo (drums), Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Herring (guitar) and Rob Barraco (keyboards), is also scheduled to co-headline a pair of year-ending shows--probably in the San Francisco Bay area--with Bob Weir [ tickets ]'s Ratdog.

Lesh had distanced himself from his Grateful Dead bandmates Weir and Mickey Hart in 1999 because he disagreed with their handling of the digitizing of the Grateful Dead's catalog. The estrangement ended this summer, when Phil Lesh and Friends played several concert dates with Ratdog.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Lesh canceled a benefit show in San Francisco for the Unbroken Chain Foundation. Lesh and others formed the foundation in 1997 "to perpetuate the long-standing tradition of community service that has been the hallmark of the remarkable three-decade relationship between the Grateful Dead and its audience," according to its mission statement.

The foundation will be conducting blood drives to support the Red Cross, but has been asked to wait a couple of weeks to begin, "when the supply will need to be boosted," Lesh wrote on his official website.