Bob Dylan [ tickets ] is set to play his first U.S. concerts of the year in April, when he hits the road for a month-long series of dates that opens in Texas and heads east from there.

In February, Dylan got his touring year underway with an 11-city jaunt through Australia and New Zealand. Since his fall 2002 tour of North America, Dylan--who typically performs playing an acoustic guitar--has been favoring the piano.

The legendary singer-songwriter's current backing band features Larry Campbell (guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin), Billy Burnette (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass) and George Recile (drums). Burnette recently took the place of Charlie Sexton.

In November, Columbia Records released the fifth edition of it's Dylan "Bootleg" series, titled "Bob Dylan Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue." The two-disc set features the Revue's 1975 performances in Worcester, Cambridge, Boston, and Montreal. A limited-edition DVD packaged with the set includes 5.1 surround-sound remixes of two songs from Dylan's film "Renaldo and Clara."

Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft" won last year's GRAMMY^® award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, and Dylan was nominated in the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the album's track "Honest With Me."