Currently trekking across Australia, Harris will return to North America to launch the outing June 20 in Denver. She has 21 dates ready to roll, and she’ll be stopping in theatres and some outdoor venues.

Justifiably revered for her crystalline voice, Harris has usually relied on the songwriting talents of some of music’s best to supply material for her more than 25 albums. But for last year’s Red Dirt Girl, she stretched her already considerable talents to write all but one song on the disc. The move paid off with another Grammy Award.

Harris may not have the record sales of, say, Shania Twain but she has undoubtedly become one of the most influential contemporary artists in the 25 years since being discovered in a Washington D.C.-area bar by former Byrd and Flying Burrito Brother Chris Hillman. He introduced her to country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons and a legendary partnership was born.

It’s hard to even pigeonhole Harris’ body of work as “country” music – she’s proven herself equally adept with pop, rock, folk and traditional American music over the years.

She surprised even her most ardent fans with 1995’s Wrecking Ball, a collaboration with producer Daniel Lanois – best known for turning out hits for the decidedly non-country likes of U2 and Peter Gabriel.

Her most recent American shows were not to back up her album, but for a cause – mounting the Concerts for a Landmine Free World trek with fellow singer/songwriters Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and John Prine.