John Butler Trio plots spring/summer 'Uprising'

Australian outfit The John Butler Trio will spend a few weeks this summer on a US road trip behind the group's forthcoming release, "April Uprising."

Currently on the tail end of a West Coast tour, the jam-band threesome--singer/guitarist John Butler, drummer Nicky Bomba and bassist Byron Luiters--will complete Australian and European legs before returning stateside for a 16-date run that kicks off May 21 in West Hollywood. The club outing includes a pair of two-night stands slated for May 26-27 in Portland, OR, and May 29-30 in Vancouver. The full schedule is shown at right.

"April Uprising," the band's fifth studio effort, hits US retailers April 6, though it becomes available throughout Europe and Australia in late March. The new collection follows 2007's "Grand National," which topped Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart.

"I feel the sounds and general spirit and energy of this album are best summed up in the words 'free, melodic, funky, phat and rocking,'" Butler explained in a statement posted at the group's website. "There's definitely a certain attitude that comes across on the album. Perhaps there's a conviction, in a songwriting and production sense, that I haven't tapped into so much on earlier works."

The first single from the new set, "One Way Road," surfaced in December; the music video for the track is currently streaming at the band's website.