Modern rock's leading piano man, Ben Folds, is taking his namesake band on the road

for a summer tour.

Ben Folds Five, who released their third studio album, The Autobiography of Reinhold

Messner, April 27, began the tour Thursday in their native North Carolina. From

there, after an additional date in their home state, the band will head across the U.S.,

moving through the South, the Midwest, and the West and East coasts.

Along the way, Ben Folds Five will tape a performance June 8 on the "Tonight Show with

Jay Leno," and Folds will tape an appearance June 7 on the talk show "Politically

Incorrect with Bill Maher."

The tour will hit mostly midsized indoor theaters, but will end with an outdoor date, June

24, as part of Manhattan's Central Park SummerStage music festival.

The summer outing is the second leg of Ben Folds Five's Reinhold Messner tour;

the first leg hit colleges and clubs in April and May.

In an April 28 show at Manhattan's Irving Plaza, the band mixed newer, more

contemplative material from Reinhold Messner such as "Don't Change Your

Plans" (RealAudio excerpt)

with such familiar songs as "Battle of Who Could Care Less" (RealAudio excerpt).

In addition to several atmospheric ballads from Reinhold Messner, the band also

played new tracks such as "Your Redneck Past" (RealAudio excerpt), which

are consistent with the band's rollicking, lyrically sardonic catalog.

"This song is about discovering that the last 15 years of your life have been fake and

you're actually just a redneck," Folds said while introducing the song at a show in April.

The band -- singer/pianist Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee --

released its self-titled debut in 1995. The group broke through in 1997 with Whatever

and Ever Amen, which featured the hit "Brick."

In 1998 they released Naked Baby Photos, an album of outtakes and live

performances, and later in the year Folds released a solo album, Volume

One, under the name Fear of Pop.

Ben Folds Five Tour Dates:

May 27; Raleigh, N.C.; Ritz

May 28; Charlotte, N.C.; Blockbuster Pavilion

May 29; Atlanta, Ga.; Tabernacle

May 30; Nashville, Tenn.; Ryman Auditorium

June 1; St. Louis, Mo.; American Theatre

June 2; Kansas City, Mo.; Starlight Theatre

June 4; Denver, Colo.; Paramount Theatre

June 5; Albuquerque, N.M.; Sunshine Theatre

June 6; Tempe, Ariz.; Club Rio

June 10; Los Angeles, Calif.; Hollywood Palladium

June 11; Las Vegas, Nev.; House of Blues

June 12; San Diego, Calif.; Open Air Theatre

June 13; San Francisco, Calif.; Warfield Theatre

June 18; Chicago, Ill.; Riviera Theatre

June 19; Pittsburgh, Pa.; IC Light

June 20; Washington, D.C.; 9:30 Club

June 22; Worcester, Mass.; Palladium

June 23; Providence, R.I.; Lupo's

June 24; New York, N.Y.; Central Park SummerStage