Tom Morello tours as The Nightwatchman

Guitar hero and social activist Tom Morello is hitting the road as his politically charged folk alter ego, The Nightwatchman, starting this weekend at the Coachella festival in Indio, CA.

Morello, who will also reunite with Rage Against the Machine at Coachella, will play a couple of dates in May before launching a steady run of US shows in June. Ben Harper will join him during concerts scheduled for May 5 and June 7-14. The itinerary is listed below.

Morello is offering fan club members of his former band Audioslave free admission to all shows, according to a press release.

The Grammy-winning guitarist's debut solo album as The Nightwatchman, "One Man Revolution," was released this week. The 13-song set has the usually plugged-in rocker on acoustic guitar and singing lead vocals for the first time. The collection is described in a press release as "songs of bitterness and revenge" and "a dark response to a world in turmoil."

"Since I was young, I've been encouraging people to find their voice and speak the truth as they see it in an uncompromising way, regardless of consequence," Morello recently told the UPI news service. "I decided to finally take that advice myself in making [the album]."

"One Man Revolution" was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with Morello on Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave albums, and produced records for Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam, among others. A few songs from the set are streaming at The Nightwatchman's website and MySpace page.

Morello has performed as The Nightwatchman for four years at coffee houses, political events and on the 2003 Tell Us the Truth Tour. Recently, he held a Tuesday-night residency at Los Angeles' Hotel Cafe featuring many of his musical cohorts, including System of a Down's Serj Tankian, Perry Farrell and Shooter Jennings, to name a few.

Morello and Tankian are co-founders of the non-profit Axis of Justice, which aims to bring together musicians, fans and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.