The Knitters return for winter hoedown

Venerable pop/punk/ roots-rockers The Knitters, whose lineup features former members of X and The Blasters, "dust off the acoustics" this winter for a short club tour.

The band, featuring three-fourths of the original lineup of X (Exene Cervenka, John Doe and D.J. Bonebrake), guitarist Dave Alvin from The Blasters and bassist Jonny Ray Bartel, will kick off an 11-city tour Nov. 30 in Chicago. The trek hits locations in the Midwest, Texas and Southwest before landing back in California. All dates are listed below.

The band's most recent album, 2005's "The Modern Sounds of The Knitters," picks up where the group's previous and only other recording, 1985's "Poor Little Critter in the Road," left off, offering the group's acoustic-driven interpretations of American roots music classics, with covers of songs by Flatt & Scruggs and Porter Waggoner, among others, as well as providing fresh takes on old X favorites like "Burning House of Love" and "In This House That I Call Home."

"When we first met Porter, he was singing in a plain brown suit and working solo," Cervenka said in the band's tounge-in-cheek online bio. "I told him, 'Boy, you could probably go far if you worked on your wardrobe a little and got yourself a partner--maybe a good-lookin', well-put-together woman.' Happily, he took my advice."

"When Zoe/Rounder Records asked us to make another record in our original style," added drummer Bonebrake, "we jumped at the chance. It took us back to the old days, when we used to sit around the fire in Glendale, a-pickin' out the great tunes. We just dusted off the old acoustics and got to it!"