Mark Knopfler hopes to "Get Lucky" with CD, tour

Former ''Dire Straits'' lead singer Mark Knopfler performs during a concert in Bombay March 5, 2005.

DETROIT (Billboard) - With his sixth solo studio album coming September 15, Mark Knopfler is planning a big tour in 2010.

"It'll be four, five months," the former Dire Straits frontman tells Billboard.com. "Springtime -- April, May -- in the U.S., and June and July in Europe. And I'd like a week at the Royal Albert Hall (in London). Just doing a week is nice; it's not too far from where I live, and it's a good atmosphere in there."

He says the opportunity to hit the road has become one of the lures to keep recording new albums, the latest of which is "Get Lucky," the follow-up to 2007's "Kills to Get Crimson."

"I do get a lot of pleasure form touring and playing live," Knopfler says. "It's kind of an affirmation. It's certainly something I don't have to do financially; I just do it because I have a compulsion to out and play every now and again, and it's an important part of what a traveling musician does. It's enjoyable just taking a look at everything and doing various things with the songs and working them up in different ways. It's very enjoyable."

Proceeds from the album's first single, "Remembrance Day," are going to the Poppy Appeal, which supports the Royal British Legion, an organization for present and former members of the British armed services.

Knopfler is anxious to unveil new tunes, but he promises that he'll still dip generously into the hits.

"When I'm playing the old Dire Straits stuff ... these (songs) have become like milestones for people, and when you play them you have to pay attention to that," Knopfler explains.

"I never like to play things the same, but with, like, 'Brothers in Arms,' the first four notes I probably do play them the same because they've become part of this fabric and the way people live with the song. And the end of 'Sultans of Swing,' I've tried doing different things but if you don't go back to the exact same set of notes that they know from the album, things just don't seem right with the world. So I try to be somewhat aware of that."

(Editing by D Goodman at Reuters)