Ozomatli lines up spring road trip

Multi-cultural rockers Ozomatli head out on the road this month after spending a little time in the studio coming up with fresh material for a possible new studio album.

The Los Angeles-based group kicks off a 23-city, mostly headlining trek March 6 in St. Petersburg, FL. The outing runs through the middle of April, with a few scattered dates showing up on the band's calendar into early summer. Details are included below.

In May, the band will once again take on the role of cultural ambassadors, heading overseas for US State Department-affiliated shows in Rangoon, Myanmar; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Vladivostok, Russia. The group has previously visited Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East on government-sponsored concert trips.

In the meantime, having just signed a new record deal with fledgling Downtown music imprint Mercer Records, the band has been working on material for a new album in Jack Johnson's Los Angeles recording studio, with Robert Carranza (Mars Volta, Zach De La Rocha) producing.

"Our new music is filled with what could best be described as a sense of 'happy urgency,'" singer and guitarist Raul Pacheco said in a press statement. "There just seems to be a thread of calmness and maturity running through these songs that says, 'do what you want in your life right now, there is no need to wait any longer.'"

Ozomatli's most recent studio album was 2007's "Don't Mess With the Dragon."