Although Barack Obama is still weeks away from officially taking office, the President-elect can take partial credit for accomplishing one task: getting the Grateful Dead back on the road again.

Speculation about a possible tour began brewing last year after the bandmates reunited for February’s “Deadheads For Obama ‘08” concert in San Francisco. That performance was followed up several months later by another fundraising appearance at October’s “Change Rocks” concert/rally in Pennsylvania.

In a statement, guitarist/singer Bob Weir said the crew had some “unfinished business” to take care of. Bob added, “Everybody has a whole new bag of tricks; we have the body of material we worked up over the years and we have a mind meld going on here and it would be a sin to let that just wither and die.”

Joining Weir for the 2009 tour are the remaining original Dead members: Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. (Guitarist Warren Haynes and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti will also play with the foursome.)

The tour - their first in five years - will kick off April 12 in Greensboro, NC and hit a total of 16 cities. Additional information about An Evening with the Dead can be found here.