A famous name is like a sail that weighs a ton; it’s the kind of thing that will pull you out into open waters, but when you are ready to retack, you’ve got a lot of pulling to do. Waylon Albright “Shooter” Jennings was born in 1979, growing up on a tour bus as his namesake father and mother Jessi Colter were warning mamas to not let their babies grow up to be cowboys. Young Shooter played drums by five, guitar by 14 and had even sat in with his father’s band a few times, later dabbling in L.A. rock bands through the ’90s and early ’00s. He appeared to be an echo of his father when he emerged in 2005 with his own outlaw country record Put the “O” Back in Country and playing the role of his father in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. Two more acclaimed albums and engagement to Drea De Matteo from The Sopranos followed. It seemed being the son of Waylon Jennings was working for him.

In 2009, Shooter aimed at a different target, forming the hard rock band Hierophant and in March 2010, released the cataclysmic album Black Ribbons (smartly, under Shooter’s name). This re-tooled Shooter Jennings has more in common with Tool than any whiskey-steeped country revisionist act. It features Stephen King as the Art Bell-like “Will O’ the Wisp” late-night radio host, who is playing Hierophant’s slabs of monolithic, arena-ready dystopia rock on his final broadcast. The songs have an unhinged quality, even going a little Skynyrd in spots, but with an arsenal more like a massive space armada. The most improbable aspect of it all is how well it works.

Shooter Jennings, Hierophant and the Band of Heathens play House of Blues’ Parish September 12.