When your grandaddy drank himself to death while inventing modern country music and your pop survived a suicide attempt only to crack his skull in a fall off the side of a mountain, chances are you were born to be an unlucky, self-destructive outlaw. And Hank Williams III — Misfits fan, friend of the Melvins, self-proclaimed hellbilly — has given new life to his family’s whiskey-bent lineage. Although he’s not averse to playing straight-up "cuntry," as he spells it, he’s happier fronting Assjack, a band as willing to pummel audiences with hardcore tributes to GG Allin ("Punch, Fight, Fuck") as with mutant rockabilly ("I’m Drunk Again"). Tonight (Thursday, April 14), they’re at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Burlington; on Friday they’re at the Living Room (401-521-5200) in Providence, and on Sunday they’re at the Webster Theater (860-525-5553) in Hartford. Meanwhile, the indie-hick supergroup Superwolf, featuring Palace’s Will Oldham and Chavez/Zwan dude Matt Sweeney (Cary LoGrande’s review is in "Off the Record"), play a sold-out gig at the Museum of Fine Arts (617-369-3306) in Boston on Sunday; tickets remain for shows Tuesday at Higher Ground and Wednesday at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton.

But Bonnie "Prince" Billy’s got nothing on Prince Paul, who brings iBook buddy Dan the Automator along for a Handsome Boy Modeling School trek (Michael Alan Goldberg’s interview is in Music) that hits Higher Ground on Friday, Toad’s Place (203-624-TOAD) in New Haven on Monday, and the Paradise (617-562-8800) in Boston on Tuesday. In the other hip-hop universe, Nelly and his St. Lunatics crew get the jumpoff tonight, April 14, at the Tsongas Arena (617-931-2000) in Lowell with an assist from urban legend T.I. and a solo Fat Joe.

Proof that the sappy and serious faces of emo can co-exist, the Taking Back Sunday/Jimmy Eat World tour makes its only New England stop Saturday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center (401-331-6700) in Providence. The Shins are extending their Garden State breakout with a college tour that comes only as close as Brown University’s Meehan Auditorium (401-863-2236) in Providence next Thursday, April 21. Boston punks the Explosion and the Ducky Boys are along as good-luck charms for Flogging Molly’s latest swing, which lands Friday at Lupo’s at the Strand (401-331-LUPO) in Providence, Saturday at Hampton Beach Ballroom (603-929-4100) in New Hampshire, and Monday at the Webster. And Converge (J. Bennett’s preview is on page 7) play a pair of rare club gigs Saturday at Harpers Ferry (617-254-9743) in Allston and Sunday at the Living Room.