Dr. Dog maps fall headlining dates

Indie-rockers Dr. Dog will hit the road this fall after heading into the studio to begin recording their follow-up to last year's "Fate."

The Philadelphia-based quintet will kick off the trek with a Sept. 18 free show in Chattanooga, TN, with the tour getting underway in earnest Sept. 28 in Asheville, NC. The 23-city outing concludes with a pair of hometown shows beginning Oct. 23. Dates are below.

On the road, the band continues to support its fifth studio album, "Fate," which surfaced last summer. The set, which was recorded over the last five years in the group's own North Philadelphia studio, follows last year's "We All Belong," which ranked No. 39 on Rolling Stone's year-end Top 50 Albums list. Prior to "Fate," the band released as a digital download "Passed Away, Vol. 1," a collection of demos and outtakes.

"I think the impression that we want to make, if anything, is having a light-hearted, relaxed attitude about things," the group's Scott McMicken told About.com last fall. "That's an important way for me to feel in life, and, for me, it just works out better if I'm not a prisoner to technology. I don't want to be surrounded by computers. I don't want to click and drag to turn up the volume, I want a console that has a big volume knob on it!

"The technology to record music is just a necessary evil; the music is within you," he added. "The goal, for me, is to have a direct line of recording from within, a way that will offer less friction, less obstacles. And this is just the way I do it."

The group is currently in the recording studio working on a new album due for release early next year, according to Dr. Dog's website. In a posting on the site, the band recently revealed that it had signed a deal with Anti- Records to release the new album. All of the band's previous albums were released on the New Orleans-based independent label Park the Van.