Aerosmith is one step closer to hitting the road this summer. The American hard rock icons have announced the first event dates and ticket sales for their upcoming U.S. tour with ZZ Top.

Three concerts have been unveiled so far: August 23 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, CA; September 1 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO; and September 8 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks, with the entire tour set for at least 40 dates.

Presales for the announced September shows begin on April 11 at 10 a.m. local time, with public on-sales scheduled for April 18. The August event's presale opens on April 14; a general sale date for this show has not yet been listed.

Fans must be members of the official Aerosmith fan club, AeroForceOne, in order to access the presales. The fan club will announce various VIP ticket packages in the near future, as well, including meet-and-greet and premium seating options.

Guitarist Joe Perry announced details of the summer tour during an interview with Billboard earlier this week. According to him, the concerts will delay work on a new album. Aerosmith hasn't produced an all-original studio album since 2001's "Just Push Play."

Health concerns, such as Perry's emergency knee surgery and Steven Tyler's bout with pneumonia, also delayed the recording process earlier this year. However, Perry told Rolling Stone that Aerosmith hopes to complete the album after wrapping the tour this fall. If the recording goes as planned, the band could release the album by late 2009 or early 2010.

"The time we had allotted to make this record, we couldn’t do it," Perry explained. "But it’s a work in progress and we’re gonna shoot for it when we finish with this tour."

Aerosmith itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)