Robert Cray [ tickets ], who has been on the road since May, plans to end his year with a brief string of Brazilian performances, but has lined up a new batch of U.S. dates that will kick off in early January.

Cray and his band--Karl Sevareid (bass), Jim Pugh (keyboards) and Kevin Hayes (drums)--are touring in support of "Shoulda Been Home" (Rykodisc). The album, Cray's 12th, is the follow-up to his Grammy-winning 1999 release “Take Your Shoes Off.”

"Baby's Arms,"a track from "Shoulda Been Home," is available as a download at Cray's agency's website.

Cray's work also turns up on Tony Bennett's recently released duet album, "Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues," for which Cray co-penned the title track. "Playin' with My Friends" first appeared on B.B. King's Grammy-winning 1983 album, "Blues Summit" (MCA).

On Thursday night (11/29), the latest leg of Cray's tour will resume in Las Vegas. A series of West Coast dates are scheduled for early December, after which Cray and his band will head to Brazil.