Veteran singer Michael McDonald [ tickets ] takes his recent collection of Motown covers out for a spin on the U.S. tour circuit.

McDonald's loose-knit itinerary so far comprises small batches of dates scattered throughout the rest of the year, as well as a handful of February and March shows. More dates are expected.

The run backs McDonald's June release, "Motown," which features the baritone-voiced singer-keyboardist's interpretations of Motown classics such as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Sign, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

A longtime Motown fan, McDonald said that he sometimes found it difficult to put his own stamp on the well-known songs.

"I had to force myself in some cases not to mimic the original vocals, because to me they're so much ingrained in my head as the melody," McDonald said in a statement. "So I found myself in some cases walking on a tightrope, trying to be true to what I felt the songs were because of those vocals, and at the same time not just doing an album where we're trying to imitate records that have already been made."

McDonald recorded "Motown" with English producer Simon Climie, who produced Eric Clapton's "Pilgrim," and laid down most of his vocal tracks in the south of France, where Climie lives.

"It's just a wonderful spot," McDonald said. "I fell in love with the place. The original tracks were programmed, they were sketches of what would be, but I wanted to bring it over to a live musician feeling, so we overdubbed organs, bass and real drums on everything. We were able to experiment with tempos and keys, and really nail what made the original records work so well."

"Motown" is the follow-up to the former Doobie Brothers frontman's 2001 holiday release, "In the Spirit: A Christmas Album.