Hellyeah embark on first tour this weekend

Hellyeah, featuring members of Mudvayne, Pantera and Nothingface, begins its first headlining tour on Sunday (May 20th) in Baltimore. The group is touring in support of its self-titled debut album, which came out last month. While the members of Hellyeah aren't sure if they'll play songs from their other bands, singer Chad Gray -- who also fronts Mudvayne -- said they may pull out some other surprises: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "We might do some covers, I don't know. You never know, like, kind of the vibe of this thing. I mean, you never know, we might break out a Guns N' Roses cover, we might break out a Skynyrd, or hell, you never know, maybe some Slayer. So, I mean, there's a lot of different things that this band represents, you know. It's just really all about having a good time. This is about giving people something to move to."

Earlier this week, Hellyeah announced former Damageplan bassist Bob "Zilla" Kakaha as the replacement for Jerry Montano, who exited the group in April.

Hellyeah's debut disc landed at Number Nine on the Billboard album chart in its first week of release.

The band also features Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell.

Hellyeah will also head out this summer on the Family Values tour.

Meanwhile, Mudvayne recently completed recording its fourth studio album in New Orleans and Greg Tribbett told the Peoria Journal Star that the disc is going to be "different," adding, "It's definitely another step for Mudvayne...it's definitely in a different direction. There's a lot of singing on this record, a lot of big choruses. It's cool, man. We're all excited about it."