Williams will play a full 45-minute set with both his “damn” country band and Assjack, his death-metal project, with a 15 minute break in-between.

While this may sound like a recipe for disaster, Williams thinks audiences are ready for it.

“Nowadays, there’s a whole group of people that love Waylon and David Allan Coe and love Pantera and Slayer – there’s a whole breed of them out there,” he explained.

The first leg of the tour kicks off tonight at Headliners in Louisville, K.Y., and runs through mid-July, at which time Williams will head to Europe for more than a dozen shows.

So what does the singer expect the result of putting two vastly different genres on the same bill will be?

“Well, A: they’re either drunk and don’t want to go home or; B: maybe the fan base is getting younger possibly,” he said. “We might be getting a few more metalheads with what I’ve done out there with Superjoint Ritual and playing in Arson Athem.

“That’s probably a factor also and maybe they just wanna get their money’s worth. Hell, they spent 20 bucks for a ticket, why not see the whole show?”

And if the crowd gets rowdy, well, Williams has already dealt with his share of that.

“It’s pretty surprising how the power of music can piss some people off. Growing up the way I had to, and some of the redneck bars I had to play in, they just think it’s complete disrespect to their establishment and to them – you know I can’t make everyone happy and it is what it is.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the redneck that gets upset and thinks I’m pissing Hank Williams off, or the young kid that thinks I’m selling out by playing hard rock, which is totally … if I was selling out, I would be doing what a producer tells me and dressing up all pretty and only be doing country music – that’s how to make money.

“I just stuck with the hard road – that’s what makes us different and unique and gives the wide audience range from 14 to 80 out there … cowboys, punks, metalheads, jocks, grandmas and the average everyday person. We bring them all together under the same roof. That’s what makes us proud. That’s what makes it worth it at the end of the day.”

Assjack’s debut album, for which Williams performed, wrote and produced every track himself, is due to hit shelves August 4.