Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow has a long history of making summer-worthy songs, starting with her '90s megahit "All I Wanna Do," then through "Every Day Is a Winding Road," "Soak Up the Sun" and "Love Is Free." She continues the trend in 2010 with her new single "Summer Day," the first track to debut from her forthcoming album "100 Miles from Memphis," due July 20.

The soul-infused track can be streamed now for listeners willing to cough up a $1 million agree to allowing Universal to connect to users through Facebook.

I am personally uncomfortable with this particular method of culling information from fans, but I do it for the people, people.

For those unwilling, I can say that it's true to its description: that growing up 100 miles from the hometown of Stax Records had a profound interest on Crow, who grew up in the lower right hand of Missouri. While prior releases pushed her upstream on a pop-rock track, then a pure-pop, then an Americana-pop vein, this tries to square her sweet pipes with an American soul tradition, with a horns section, a strong line of backup singers and her pipes flipping and reaching for new dynamic heights previously unheard on former records.

That all being said, the newness of it is a little startling, and not because I don't think Crow's fit to sing soul or R&B. It's more like "Summer Day" doesn't sound like something she'd write. It's generic, as though anybody could've tagged it with their own inflection. This squares her directly with adult top 40 audiences and soft rock, but it doesn't distinguish this obviously talented singer.

It hurts from cliches culled from another era ("I just wanna be what you want me to") while the lyric "let is shine" as its token non sequitur (though I suppose a "day" can "shine"). Still, though, it's hummable, a crowd's pleasure and totally harmless. It makes me curious if she take more risks -- and not just genre-wise -- with the rest of "100 Miles."

Crow is going on tour later this month and will be opening the first five dates of Lilith Fair, then heading out again. She has recently donated to the cause of rebuilding Nashville, her adoptive home base, after catastrophic flooding this Spring.

Her album will arrive via A&M; her last album "Detours" was released in 2008.

Here are Sheryl Crow's tour dates:

Friday, June 11          Chattanooga, TN - Riverbend Festival
Saturday, June 12       Elizabeth, IN - Horseshoe Casino
Sunday, June 13         Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Pavilion
Monday, June 14        Interlochen, MI  - Kresge Auditorium
Tuesday, June 15        Kettering, OH  - Fraze Pavilion @ Lincoln Park Center
Thursday, June 17       Vienna, VA - The Filene Center
Friday, June 18           Cleveland, OH - State Theater
Saturday, June 19       Clarkston, MI -  DTE Energy Music Theater
Monday, June 21        Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavillion
Tuesday, June 22        Portsmouth, VA -  nTELOS Wireless Pavilion
Thursday, June 24       Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
Saturday, June 26       Bridgeview, IL - Crossroads Guitar Festival

Lillith Fair Dates

Sunday, June 27          Calgary, AL - McMahon Stadium
Monday, June 28         Edmonton, AB - Northlands Spectrum
Thursday, July 1           Vancouver, BC - Pitt Meadow Airport
Friday, July 2               Portland, OR -  The Amphitheater @ Clark County
Saturday, July 3           George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheater

August/September dates to feature new touring band

Thursday, Aug 12     Gilford, NH - Meadowbrook
Friday, Aug 13         Canandaigua, NY - Constellation Brands Marvin Sands PAC
Saturday, Aug 14     Atlantic City, NJ - Caesar’s Circus Maximus
Sunday, Aug 15       Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheater
Thursday, Aug 19     Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Saturday, Aug21      Sedalia, MO - Missouri State Fairground Grandstand
Sunday, Aug 22        Des Moines, IA - Iowa State Fair
Tuesday, Aug 24      Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater
Thursday, Aug 26     Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theater @ Grand Prairie
Saturday, Aug 28      Bee Cave, TX - The Backyard
Tuesday, Aug 31       Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
Wednesday, Sept 1   Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Thursday, Sept 9       San Diego, CA - Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
Friday, Sept 10         Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theater
Saturday, Sept 11     Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
Tuesday, Sept 14      Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
Wednesday, Sept 15 Saratoga, CA The Mountain Winery
Thursday, Sept 16     Santa Ynes, CA Chumash Casino
Friday, Sept 17         Murphy, CA Ironstone Vineyards