Mike Doughty maps West Coast dates

Singer/songwriter Mike Doughty has lined up an acoustic headlining tour next month concentrating on West Coast venues.

Doughty will forsake the full-band treatment for the West Coast trek--which kicks off May 1 in San Diego, CA--in favor of a stripped-down approach, performing onstage as a duo with his regular bass player, Andrew "Scrap" Livingston. The duo format will also carry over to the outing's closing date on the opposite side of the country, May 22 in Asbury Park, NJ. Details are below.

Doughty continues to support "Golden Delicious," his second and latest full-length studio album. He enlisted his regular touring band for the album's recording, with the addition of Semisonic's John Munson, who sat in on bass while Livingston shifted to guitar. The singer once again tapped Dan Wilson (Jewel, Dixie Chicks) for production duties after the two worked together on Doughty's previous solo effort, 2005's "Haughty Melodic."

"With 'Haughty,' [Dan and I] started with drum machine, piano and guitar," Doughty wrote in a message posted at his website. "We kept bringing people in to lay down drums, pedal steel or whatever, layer on layer. This time the intention was to make everything live, spontaneous and of the moment.

"They put their individual stamp on the music and had input into the arranging and development of the songs," he added. "I like guys who can surprise me and I was always smiling in the studio."

Last month, the singer offered up a digital live album, "Half Smofe: Live in Minneapolis." Recorded in 2002, the set has previously been available only at Doughty's live shows and through his website. The digital LP is currently on sale at the iTunes store.

Doughty's former band, Soul Coughing, produced three studio albums in the '90s before breaking up in 2000.