ZZ Top Back With Album, Tour : Rolling Stone

Iconic Texas rock trio ZZ Top will release their fourteenth album, titled Mescalero, on April 15th. The set is the follow-up to 1999's XXX, and features fifteen original songs along with a cover of "Tramp," an R&B classic that was a hit for Otis Redding and Carla Thomas in 1967 -- two years before guitarist Billy F. Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard formed ZZ Top in Houston.

Now in their thirty-fourth year together, ZZ Top are sticking to the same gritty Southern sound they made their name with. "You'll know it's ZZ Top right away," Dusty Hill said, "but we've kept it interesting and fresh." Gibbons added, "We've gone in some new directions . . . [but] it's still the same three guys playing the same three chords."

ZZ Top will take Mescalero out on the road this spring on an outing that starts April 25th in Bossier City, Louisiana, and is now scheduled through a June 14th stop in Dallas. Ted Nugent and Kenny Wayne Shepherd have been tapped as openers.

ZZ Top tour dates:

4/25: Bossier City, LA, Century Tel Center
4/26: Birmingham, AL, Oak Mountain
4/29: San Antonio, TX, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
4/30: Laredo, TX, Event Center
5/2: Jackson, MS, Coliseum
5/3: Oklahoma City, OK, Ford Center
5/7: West Palm Beach, FL, Corla Sky Amphitheater
5/9: Raleigh, NC, Alltel Pavilion
5/10: Charlotte, NC, Charlotte Verizon Amphitheater
5/11: Virginia Beach, VA, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
5/13: Washington, DC, Nissan Pavilion
5/14: Columbus, OH, Germain Ampitheater
5/16: Pittsburgh, Post-Gazette Pavilion
5/17: Indianapolis, Verizon Wireless Music Theater
5/18: Cleveland, Germain Amphiteater
5/20: Boston, Tweeter Center
5/21: Philadelphia, Tweeter Center
5/23: Detroit, DTE Energy Music Center
5/24: Chicago, Tweeter Center
5/25: Milwaukee, Alpine Valley
5/28: Cincinnati, Riverbend Music Center
5/30: Nashville, AmSouth Amphitheater
5/31: St. Louis, UMB Bank Pavilion
6/1: Kansas City, KS, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
6/3: Albuquerque, Journal Pavilion
6/4: Phoenix, Cricket Pavilion
6/6: Sacramento, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheater
6/7: San Bernardino, CA, Glen Helen Pavilion
6/8: San Francisco, Shoreline Amphitheater
6/12: Tulsa, OK, Convention Center
6/13: Austin, TX, Frank Erwin Center
6/14: Dallas, American Airlines Arena