The tour, which features several multi-night stands, kicks off October 1-2 at Fir Lounge in Portland, Ore. and runs through the middle of the month.

Other featured stops are Richard’s On Richards in Vancouver (October 3-4), Café Du Nord in San Francisco (October 9-11) and Safari Sam’s in Los Angeles (October 15-16).

Tickets for several dates are available through Ticketmaster.

Black Francis shared the reason for his rebirth: “I never thought I would go back to the old name, although I secretly missed it,” Francis said. “I never thought I’d go back to the old band, although I discovered during a reunion tour four years later that I missed them too.”

Although the Pixies performed a bunch of dates together, and even went as far as recording a couple of new songs – one by Kim Deal and another by Warren Zevon – a full reunion and new album wasn’t in the cards.

“I privately went back to the old stage name, if that even makes any sense, almost as a joke. I couldn’t get the Pixies back into a studio, but I would transform into my alter ego of yesteryear.”

Not long after, Francis’ new manager asked him for a bonus track for a greatest hits compilation, Frank Black 93-03, released earlier this year. While working on the song, the singer found himself inspired by eccentric Dutch painter/musican Herman Brood.

“As I prepared for the session, I became (honestly) gripped by the spirit of Herman Brood, and my bonus track expanded into an 11 song record called Bluefinger in just a few days. Thank you Herman.”

All the tracks on Bluefinger, which hits the streets today, directly or indirectly reference Brood, who was known as the “Dutch personification of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”