Pearl Jam stays busy with album, Cameron Crowe, more

Looks like Pearl Jam will have a lot on its shoulders in the coming year, what with a few live dates scheduled, a new album in the works and the filming of a documentary with Cameron Crowe.

Billboard reports that in a radio interview last month, guitarist Mike McCready told Seattle's "Ron & Don Show" that the band is about halfway done with the new album, which is expected to be out by the end of the year. The album, the band's ninth, was recorded in California with producer Brendan O'Brien and will be self-released.

Following in the footsteps of its 2007 Lollapalooza and 2008 Bonnaroo appearances, the band is set to play another festival this summer. This one being the Outside Lands Festival in San Francsico, which goes down Aug. 28-30. No specifics on a full-fledged tour quite yet, but with frontman Eddie Vedder gearing up for a solo tour this summer, one can always hope that the rest of the band might follow suit.

Unfortunately, no further details on the Crowe-involved film exist at the moment.