If you're a tool, Hank III probably doesn't like you. And he'll tell you that, to your face, through middle finger or song. It's exactly the reason - only aided by a famous name and blue-collar approach to turning the Pop-Country Music Establishment on its ear - why Hank III is one of the most refreshing presences in music. Anywhere. Period.

"I've always said an outlaw or a rebel is someone that marches to their own beat," Hank III told the LA Weekly in 2008. Earlier this year Hank III, who practices country music the way it was meant to be practiced, but is no stranger to metal circles and kids dressed in black and covered with tattoos, celebrated his final album for Curb Records (see: long, contentious, rant-filled history), Rebel Within. "(Rebels) do things for themselves. They're not trying to write songs for the radio or make everybody happy. They just play their music, say what they say, do what they do, and they believe in themselves."

That sentiment, a trademark of Hank III, is as evident as ever on Rebel Within. While Hank III's previous efforts have been pleasantly full of odes to drug use and hell raisin', Rebel Within comes off like a message from an original who's been there and done that. Hank III doesn't turn his back on his wild history and genetics - far from it - but his latest effort proves it's no longer the main trick in his bag. Perhaps it's simply the fact that he's grown older, or maybe it's more, but with Rebel Within Hank III sounds more at home in his skin than ever - and that's a good thing, and also kind of hard to believe.

Sunday's show at Hell's Kitchen will be one to remember.

Hank III

with Assjack, Izzy Cox
Sunday, June 20, 9 p.m., $20 at Ticketswest
Hell's Kitchen, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.759.6003