It’s beautiful Slash, at the height of his rock icon status, wants to bring a big spotlight back to the blues. That’s exactly what the Guns N’ Roses guitarist’s doing with his upcoming solo album, the exquisitely titled “Orgy of the Damned.” Out May 17, the album has been preceded by a hot cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson conjuring the spirit of Wolf’s original, guttural vocals.

This summer, Slash will launch a 20-date tour likely to give the blues an even bigger boost. Dubbed the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival, the trek will find the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer taking out a rotating lineup of blues artists. The tour launches July 5 at Montana’s KettleHouse Amphitheater.

On August 13, Slash’s touring festival hits the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Ala. The Orion lineup boasts Slash, Larkin Poe, ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6.

For his headlining set, Slash will be backed by the same players who anchor his “Orgy of the Damned” album: keyboardist Teddy ‘ZigZag’ Andreadis, drummer Michael Jerome, bassist Johnny Griparic, and singer/guitarist Tash Neal. Andreadis was a touring musician with Guns N’ Roses during GN’R’s early ‘90s “Use Your Illusion” era. He and Griparic also previously were members of Slash’s ‘90s live side-project Blues Ball, which covered some of the material revisited on “Orgy of the Damned.”

Tickets for Slash’s Huntsville show go on sale 10 a.m. March 15 via theorionhuntsville.com and the Orion Box Office, address 701 Amphitheater Drive N.W. Prices start at $50 plus fees.

Superfans who’ve saved up a few shekels take note: There’s also VIP package that gets you front-row access to Slash’s soundcheck, a signed copy of “Orgy of the Damned,” and more. For additional info and pre-sales visit serpentfestival.com.

As many longtime fans know, early in his career, offstage Slash was an avid collector of snakes and reptiles. But the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival name has a deeper meaning. The acronym stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N’ Tolerance.

In a statement, Slash says “The S.E.R.P.E.N.T. tour is a celebration of blues and rock ‘n’ roll music, and a celebration of unity and togetherness in these uncertain and divisive times. S.E.R.P.E.N.T is a vehicle to help support and uplift people and communities suffering from the injustices of racism and equal rights violations, as well as to support children adversely affected by war and poverty across the world. So, we are contributing a portion of every ticket and VIP package sold from the tour to those ends. S.E.R.P.E.N.T. will also provide an environment where folks can get together for a day of great music and hang out and have a good time.”

Other acts performing at various stops of the tour included Warren Haynes Band, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, Keb’ ‘Mo, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Jackie Venson.

The album “Orgy of the Damned” finds Slash mixing it up with A-list rocker pals — like Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Gary Clark Jr., ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson and Bad Company/Free legend Paul Rodgers – on covers of blues songs made famous by the likes of Albert King, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Two of the best tracks are covers of T. Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday,” featuring Beth Hart’s powerhouse vocals, and a rave-up of Little Walter’s “Key to the Highway,” belted out by mononymous rocker Dorothy.

Since reuniting with GN’R singer Axl Rose and bassist Duff McKagan in 2016 for the first time since 1993, Slash has been headlining arenas and stadiums worldwide with Guns N’ Roses, the blues-metal band known for hits like “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Patience,” “Paradise City,” “November Rain” and “You Could Be Mine.”

Slash previously performed in Huntsville in 1987, when a pre-fame GN’R opened for Mötley Crüe at the Von Braun Civic Center, during a Southeastern leg of the tour supporting Mötley’s album “Girls, Girls, Girls”

In addition to Guns N’ Roses, Slash is known for his early 2000s supergroup Velvet Revolver, which also boasted late great Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, and his long-running solo band Slash and the Conspirators, with Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy.

“I love blues music,” Slash says in a statement, “but I haven’t really done the blues thing because I was always so busy with something else. All these years later, I decided to finally do it.”

“Orgy of the Damned” is the first full Slash solo album since his eponymous 2010 LP, which like “Orgy” featured a dynamic range of guest singers, from Chris Cornell to Fergie.

“With any of the hard rock bands I’m in the music is usually delivered at a frenetic pace with a certain amount of aggression,” Slash says in a statement. “This album is still in my style, and it still has its own sort of aggression to it because that’s the way I play. But at the same time it has a simple, stripped-down sound that is transparent and stark. It was a different approach. I don’t often do these kinds of records and you don’t always hear recordings of me in this context. But I loved what we captured in the moment.”

There are some unexpected collaborations on “Orgy of the Damned.” Outlaw country star Chris Stapleton steps up to the mic to take on “Oh Well,” a gem from Fleetwood Mac’s bluesy pre-Stevie-Nicks-and-Lindsey-Buckingham era, when that band was led by doomed guitar legend Peter Green. Pop star Demi Lovato teams with Slash and co. to saunter through The Temptations’ wah-flecked “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” Punk god Iggy Pop turns Lightnin’ Hopkins’ song “Awful Dream” into art-house cinema.

As evident by some of the the material Slash and his collaborators interpret, “Orgy of the Damned” stretches blues album perceptions. For example, aforementioned Black Crowes singer Robinson belts out and plays harmonica on Steppenwolf’s ‘60s hit “The Pusher.”

The album concludes with an emotional and new instrumental titled “Metal Chestnut.” In addition to his acoustic and electric guitar, the closer boasts a rare performance of Slash playing pedal steel guitar, the complicated country-music-associated instrument he’s been learning in recent years.

The music for “Orgy of the Damned” was played live in the studio, with Slash and his band playing together in the same room. Crucially, the album was produced by Mike Clink, the sonic savant who gave essential GN’R discs like “Appetite for Destruction,” “GN’R Lies” and the “Use Your Illusion” LPs their raw yet crystal sound.

It was a very spontaneous thing,” Slash says in a statement of recording “Orgy of the Damned.” “We just threw it together. There was no researching or trying to find the right tracks — these are just songs I like. I wanted to approach the music in the way I always play. These are my interpretations. With some of the songs we changed the arrangement entirely because it was how we wanted to hear it played. The beauty of improvising and not overthinking is that something interesting or unexpected can come out of it.”