STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Announce First U.S. Tour With New Singer JEFF GUTT

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will embark on their first tour with new singer Jeff Gutt in the spring. The trek will kick off on March 2 in Santa Clarita, California and conclude on March 17 in Billings, Montana. The band will also play at three festivals in April and May: at Columbus, Ohio's Rock On The Range, Jacksonville, Florida's Welcome To Rockville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Fort Rock.

"We are thrilled to see all of you and share in the music that belongs to all of us," STONE TEMPLE PILOTS guitarist Dean DeLeo said in a statement.

Tour dates:

Mar. 02 - Santa Clarita, CA @ The Canyon
Mar. 04 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory
Mar. 08 - Pasadena, CA @ The Rose
Mar. 09 - Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
Mar. 10 - Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee
Mar. 12 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
Mar. 13 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Mar. 15 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
Mar. 16 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
Mar. 17 - Billings, MT @ Pub Station Ballroom
Apr. 28 - Jacksonville, FL @ Welcome To Rockville
Apr. 29 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Fort Rock
May 20 - Columbus, OH @ Rock On The Range

One-time "The X Factor" contestant Jeff Gutt made his live debut as STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' new vocalist during a SiriusXM special event on November 14 at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles.

Professionally filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

A new STP single, titled "Meadow", was serviced to radio last month and was performed live for the first time during the Troubadour show.

Gutt, who was a runner-up in the reality TV music competition show's third season, originally auditioned for STP in September 2016 and became an official member of the band in May 2017. He has spent the last year secretly writing and recording new material with bandmembers Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz.

Robert DeLeo said that he first found out about Gutt while he was on the road with the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES. Robert explained: "We were playing ... up in Detroit, which is where [Jeff is] from. And after the show, there was a musician who said, 'Hey, man, you should check this guy out.' And that's where I kind of heard of him first."

Gutt recalled how he got to audition for the band, saying: "I can't remember what song it was, but a STONE TEMPLE PILOTS song came on the radio. So I called my buddy in New York who knows everybody in the music industry, and I was like, 'Hey, did they ever find a singer?' And he was like, 'You know what? I'll send 'em your stuff right now.' And three days later, I got a call."

Gutt added that he felt like he had the job before even trying out, explaining: "You have to be confident . . . I know what I'm doing. I've studied my craft. I've studied [original STP singer] Scott [Weiland] and the people Scott studied, and other singers of the era. I've really put in a lot of time into that, and if you're not willing to do all of that, you're not gonna be on the level to even be around these guys."

Gutt appeared on "The X Factor" in 2013, where he impressed the judges with his covers of songs like "Creep", "Dream On" and "Hallelujah".

STP had been without a vocalist since November 2015, when Chester Bennington — who joined the group in early 2013 — departed to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide last July.

Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose while on a solo tour.