Country music great Merle Haggard [ tickets ] has sketched out a number of tour stops for the early part of 2006, including an opening date for The Rolling Stones.

Haggard and his band, The Strangers, will hit several Southeast cities starting in early March, right after polishing off a few California dates in February, starting with a Feb. 9 appearance in Jackson, CA. Haggard will also open the Stones' March 9 show in Little Rock, AR.

Haggard's latest album marks a return to performing the type of country originals that have made him one of the most acclaimed singer/songwriters of the last 40 years. "Chicago Wind" is full of both ballads--like "Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go" and "What I've Been Meaning to Say"--and politically charged tracks, such as "Rebuild America First" and "Where's All the Freedom."

His previous album, 2004's "Unforgettable," saw Haggard tackle such sentimental classics from the Great American Songbook as "As Time Goes By" and "Stardust."

In other news related to the singer, Capitol Nashville/EMI Music announced recently that ten of Haggard's albums from the 1960s and 1970s will be remastered and reissued on Feb. 21, 2006. The albums will be released in special edition packages, with two albums included on each CD. All the CDs will include rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Also, Haggard was nominated in early December for a Grammy award in the Best Collaboration with Vocals category for the duet "Politically Uncorrect," which he recorded with singer Gretchen Wilson. The track appears on Wilson's recent album "All Jacked Up."