What is it about the summer that makes bands want to throw themselves into hot vans just to drive back and forth across the great North American continent?

Los Angeles four-piece Dawes is looking to explore the answer to that question on a 45-stop summer tour. It seems like the band has been touring behind last year’s North Hills forever, but at least the Laurel County folkateers – whose neighbors include the likes of Jenny Lewis and The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson – are going to have some great company.

They’ve scheduled some one-offs opening for Band of Horses, Josh Ritter, and She & Him, while June finds the boys playing support to Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.  The icing on the cake comes in the form of multiple festivals and a pair or shows with Justin Townes Earle (yes, the son of Steve Earle).

When you put it that way, being confined in a sweaty, four-wheeled moving sauna doesn’t sound so bad.

Speaking of confinement, Dawes released a brand spanking new, Cool Hand Luke inspired video (via Brooklyn Vegan) for “When My Time Comes”. The clip doesn’t look as analog as the song sounds, but at least it has a 10-year-old getting sent to the chain gang.

You can get tickets for select dates at Ticketmaster.com and check out the video for “When My Time Comes” below.

Dawes 2010 Tour Dates:
05/19 – New York, NY @ Town Hall &
05/21 – Fairfield, CT @ StageOne %
05/22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg &
05/26 – Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Library *
05/27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
05/29 – George, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival
05/30 – Bend, OR @ Les Schwab Amphitheatre $
05/31 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
06/01 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom *
06/02 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room *
06/04 – Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theatre *
06/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
06/07 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater *
06/08 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue *
06/09 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland *
06/11 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
06/13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Hartwood Acres Amphitheater *
06/14 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
06/15 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note *
06/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont Club *
06/18 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen *
06/19 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre *
06/21 – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Brewing Company *
06/22 – Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse Music Venue *
06/25 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom &
06/27 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox &
07/02 – St. Paul, MN @ Taste of Minnesota
07/03 – Madison, WI @ Rhythm and Booms at The Terrace # (Free Show)
07/04 – Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow Barn #
07/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Getty Center
07/14 – Ft. Worth, TX @ Casa Manana
07/15 – Shreveport, LA @ The Collective
07/16 – Birmingham, AL @ Art on the Rocks
07/18 – Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
07/22 – Easton, MD @ The Night Cat
07/27 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Café
07/28 – Louisville, KY @ WFPK Waterfront Wednesdays (Free Show)
07/29 – York, PA @ Capitol Theatre
07/31 – Newport, RI @ George Wein’s Folk Festival
08/02 – Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse ^
08/05 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
08/06 – Cincinnati, OH @ Fountain Square (Free Show)
08/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/13 – Reno, NV @ The Underground

* = w/ Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
& = w/ Josh Ritter
% = w/ Jonny Corndawg and Jenny Owens Young
$ = w/ Band of Horses and She & Him
# = w/ Justin Townes Earle
^ = w/ Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons