Steve Winwood planning 2009 tour

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- British rocker Steve Winwood is planning a series of East Coast U.S. concert performances in January, Columbia Records said Monday.

These dates mark his first U.S. headline tour since 2007. The 60-year-old recording artist last toured the United States with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers this past summer.

Winwood's critically acclaimed and brisk-selling album "Nine Lives" was released in April.

He is to kick off his latest U.S. tour at the United Palace in New York Jan. 15-16. Throughout the month, he is to play gigs in Mashantucket, Conn.; Baltimore; Montclair, N.J.; Lancaster, Pa.; Niagara Falls, N.Y. and Kingston, N.Y.

Winwood is renowned for his work with the such bands as the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and Go.