Velvet Revolver looks toward world tour, new album

Rock-and-roll supergroup Velvet Revolver is getting ready to head out on a world tour that precedes the release of its sophomore set, "Libertad."

VR will start with a handful of mid-April shows in South America and then spend May in the US, playing gigs from California to New York and stopping off in Toronto along the way. The band will then head across the pond for a European trek that kicks off June 1 in Germany. North American shows are listed below.

Earlier this month, VR vocalist Scott Weiland told MTV News the band would be back in North America at the end of the summer for another run of dates.

Velvet Revolver--comprising former Stone Temple Pilots singer Weiland; former Guns N' Roses members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums); and former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner--expects to release its new album in May or June. "Libertad" is the followup to VR's 2004 Grammy-winning debut, "Contraband."

Video logs from the band's recent recording sessions are streaming in the blog section of Velvet Revolver's MySpace page.

"Libertad," produced by Brendan O'Brien (Stone Temple Pilots), is Weiland's first album recorded clean of drugs, according to reports. The singer recently told Rolling Stone his voice is stronger and he has a deeper emotional connection to his work.

During recording, emotions were likely running high for Weiland, who lost his brother to a drug overdose earlier this year. One of the songs on the new album, "Pills, Demons, Etc.," was reportedly written after the singer's loss.

In addition to playing with Velvet Revolver, Weiland is said to be working on the followup to his 1998 debut solo album, "12 Bar Blues."