The singer has firmed up the first 16 dates of what organizers say will expand to an approximately 75-city theatre tour. Rascal Flatts is tapped for support duties.

So far, concerts are booked in mainly secondary markets such as Rochester, N.Y.; Toledo, Ohio; and Charleston, S.C.; though some larger cities – including Indianapolis, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Minneapolis – are on the list as well.

Messina, who hails from Holliston, Mass., is backing her third release, Burn, after picking up the CMA Horizon Award and Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist award last year. Clearly, she’s ready to step out on her own.

“When it came time to do my own show,” Messina said, “I wanted to try to give people both the intimacy of being in a theatre where they could really hear the music and the excitement of the kind of show they might see in a much bigger arena.

“We have some surprises in the works, which hopefully will make people feel like they’ve gotten their money’s worth and send them home truly entertained.”

Show opener Rascal Flatts burst onto the country scene with a self-titled album that recorded the highest first-week sales for a debut country group in the history of SoundScan when it was released in June. The album’s first single, “Prayin’ For Daylight,” went straight to No. 1 on the country charts.