May 25 finds him in the middle of Ekoostik Hookah‘s Hookahville Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Details for the band’s bi-annual shindig (Memorial and Labor Day weekends) are still in the formative stages.

Hornsby string of summer gigs runs June 28 through August 3 during which time he’ll play at various outdoor venues around the States.

In early June, he’ll release an new album, Big Swing Face. The disc features 11 tracks with some special guest collaborations and is the fifth without his backing band, The Range. Prior to that, Hornsby released a collection of live songs in 2000 with his two-disc album Here Come The Noisemakers.

Along with The Range, Hornsby enjoyed a successful 1986 debut, The Way It Is. The album spawned four Top 20 hits and earned Hornsby a Grammy for best new artist. Songs like “The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain,” “Every Little Kiss” and “The Valley Road” helped the disc go triple-platinum.

Although he’s done stints with other artists – from his beginnings as part of Shena Easton’s touring outfit to joining the Grateful Dead and the various post-Dead projects, to sessions with Bonnie Raitt and others – Hornsby has always taken the time to cultivate his own fanbase on the road.