Steve Earle keeps up the pace through summer

Steve Earle [ tickets ], who's been traveling across North America since February, has extended his tour through August.The Americana singer/songwriter is currently making his way from the Midwest to the East Coast, and will cross the Pond for a month-long European jaunt beginning May 15. He'll kick off the next leg of his North American tour June 27 in Tucson, AZ, and cross the US once again, with stops in a few Canadian provinces along the way. Domestic dates are included below and those overseas are listed at Earle's website.The performer's wife, singer Allison Moorer, opens the shows and joins Earle on stage during his set. DJ Neil McDonald is also traveling with the band, providing the beats heard on Earle's latest album, "Washington Square Serenade."In February, the set scored Earle his second Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. "Washington Square Serenade," produced by John King of the Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys), marked a fresh start for Earle, as it was the first album he recorded since relocating to New York from Nashville, where he had based his career since 1975.The record, which the renegade musician has called "unapologetically personal," pays tribute to the '60s folk revival in New York City."That period changed pop music," Earle stated in his bio. "It made lyrics much more important. Rock and roll could have become a sub-genre of pop if it hadn't been for that literary aspect, which completely came out of a four-block area in New York City in one brief instant of time."