Bob Dylan [ tickets ], who's seldom away from the road for long, has lined up a month of North American tour dates that opens in mid July.

Dylan kicks off his outing with a series of appearances at small outdoor venues. From there, the folk-rock icon is scheduled to join the Dead--a group that features the four surviving members of the Grateful Dead--on the second leg of their summer tour.

Dylan is also set to appear at the inaugural Bonnaroo NE festival, which takes place Aug. 8-10 at Riverhead, N.Y.'s Enterprise Park.

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.

Dylan's backing band on his U.S. spring tour featured Larry Campbell (guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin), Freddie Koella (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass) and George Recile (drums). Koella recently took over Charlie Sexton's longtime slot, after it briefly was filled by Billy Burnette.

Besides his musical endeavors, Dylan will soon appear on the big screen. He stars in the film "Masked and Anonymous," which is scheduled for limited theatrical release on July 23. A newly recorded version of Dylan's "Down in the Flood," is available for download from the film's website.

Meanwhile, a documentary film tentatively titled "Bob Dylan Anthology Project"--about the life of the artist--is in the works for a planned 2005 release, director Martin Scorsese and his production company recently announced. The documentary is expected to have a limited theatrical release before it is broadcast on PBS in the U.S. and on BBC in the U.K.

Finally, Columbia/Legacy will release 15 classic albums by Dylan in the hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format on Aug. 19. According to a press release the discs "feature a high-density layer which can provide high-resolution, multi-channel surround sound in addition to a separate two-channel stereo SACD version of the same music, and a layer with a CD version of the recording. The result is a hybrid disc whose full audio potential can be realized by the new generation of SACD players, and which is fully compatible with all other existing CD players on the market today."