Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is kicking off his solo acoustic "Songbook Tour" Friday in Aspen, Colorado.  The tour comes on the heels of a couple of productive weeks for Cornell and the rest of Soundgarden, according to an interview he did with Billboard.com.  The band, Cornell says, got together earlier this month at Cornell's Seattle studio for the first time since the sessions for their 1996 album, "Down On the Upside".

""We're pretty far into our record now," Cornell said. "I don't really know how to describe it musically, because typically with Soundgarden...every time we write a song we always take it for what it is and try to make it the most it can be. It's very diverse, I can tell you that."  Cornell did not, however, offer any kind of a timetable for when the record would be completed, explaining that the band is in a place where they just want to take their time and produce a great record.

Cornell's "Songbook Tour" starts Friday night in Aspen Colorado and wraps May 6th in San Diego.  Click Here for a complete list of the dates.