String Cheese Incident maps fall tour

Fresh off a summer tour that included shows with Bob Weir's Ratdog and an appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival, The String Cheese Incident has announced an initial round of fall concert dates.

The bluegrass-tinged jam band will hit Chicago for a two-night engagement beginning Sept. 29, the first pair of dates in an outing that will see SCI pull off 15 shows in 12 cities, mostly in October.

The band said in a press release that it will soon release details of its traditional holiday shows, including Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve dates. Tickets for all of SCI's upcoming shows can be obtained through the group's website.

The band, along with the non-profit group Conscious Alliance, will host food drives at each of the tour's stops, with attendees encouraged to bring 10 non-perishable food items in return for a limited edition SCI poster. All donated foods from the tour will benefit local America's Second Harvest food banks.

SCI's fifth studio album, "One Step Closer," hit stores in June of 2005.