Just over three months since they became the first American band to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, SOJA are hitting the road for further promotion of their historic effort.

The eight-piece band will perform 18 dates in the United States between July and August. There are also shows confirmed for South America and Mexico in September, October and December.

This is the first extensive road work for SOJA since copping the Best Reggae Album Grammy for Beauty in The Silence at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3.

Led by co-founder, lead vocalist and guitarist Jason Hemphill, SOJA opens the tour on July 12 at Richmond Raceway in their native Richmond, Virginia. The following day, they perform at Roanoke Festival, Island Park in Outer Banks, North Carolina.

They are also scheduled to perform in Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Illinois before taking a break. In September, October and December they do one-off shows in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.

Hemphill and drummer Ryan Berty are the only survivors of the original SOJA line-up that recorded its first album, Creeping In, in 1998. They have since recorded eight other studio albums and established themselves as a top touring act.

In the past 15 years, along with Rebelution, Stick Figure and Common Kings, SOJA have put American reggae on the map through well-received albums and constant touring, particularly in the US.

In April, Beauty in The Silence topped Live N Livin by Sean Paul, 10 (Spice), Pamoja (Etana), Positive Vibrations (Gramps Morgan) and Royal by Jesse Royal to win the Best Reggae Album award.

Bobby Lee (bass, vocals), Kenny Bongos (percussion), Patrick O’Shea (keyboards), Hellman Escorcia (saxophone), Rafael Rodriguez (trumpet) and Trevor Young (lead guitar, vocals) are the other members of SOJA.