Punk icons X [ tickets ] are hitting the road for the "13-31 Tour," with all four original members-- John Doe [ tickets ], Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebreak--in tow.

While the original foursome has toured together off and on over the years, this time they're working for charity. In conjunction with the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund (sweetrelief.org), tickets and VIP passes will be auctioned on eBay, with each 10-day auction to be posted two to three weeks prior to each concert date. The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a Los Angeles-based national charity that provides assistance to musicians struggling with their finances due to disability, illness, or age-related issues.

The tour will take the band from The House of Blues in Dallas and Austin's SXSW music convention, through Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and Las Vegas. John Doe spoke with LiveDaily about X's audience, Sweet Relief, and playing for charity.

LiveDaily: You've been touring with the original lineup off and on for a while. Was the last tour the Rollins "As The World Burns?" shows?

John Doe: Yeah, in 2006. We've done some other dates in between, but we've been laying a little low for a while.

Does X do a lot of benefit shows?

We haven't done as many benefits. We kind of reserve that for The Knitters or individual things. We do X when we have the time, and when there's interest from the people.

How did you come to do these shows for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund?

I've known [founder] Victoria Williams for forever. We played a couple of benefits when she first started Sweet Relief, when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When she was really kind of screwed up with the therapy and medicine and treatments, she was able to tour and write songs and do everything that she could, because of the support that was given to her. We were there at the beginning.

How much do you hope to raise with the current shows?

We don't really have a goal as to how much we're going to raise. I think that whatever it is that we can contribute is worthwhile. We don't have enough experience to have a goal. We're just hoping to contribute something.

Funny how a lot of people don't realize that there are musicians that aren't millionaires, and need things like health insurance, like everybody else. You've probably had other musician friends that helped motivate you doing this type of work.

Absolutely. The other charity that I've been involved in over the years is M.A.P., which is Musicians Assistance Program. It basically supports musicians who are trying to get off of dope. There's not much of a support system for that either, except for this one charity. If there is a need, you try to do whatever you can to fill that.

How has the chemistry with the members of X changed over the years?

It changes all the time. It's not something you can really put a finger on. Musically, the chemistry is always constant, it's usually something you can rely on. The personality stuff is just things you deal with, and you get through it. We haven't gone to therapy like … whatever that band is called that made the movie about going to therapy.

Metallica.

Metallica, right. Not one of my favorite bands, but that's okay.

How have the audiences changed over the years?

The audiences for X have always been very eclectic. They're young people, old people, hippies, whatever. In the early days the hippies were not quite as welcome as they are today. Nowadays, there are a few more older people. In 1980, there weren't people in their fifties that wanted to go see a punk rock band. However, we always had people who were in their 40s and late-30s, even when the band started. So it's stayed pretty much the same. It can be a little bit disconcerting when you see someone in the audience that looks the same as someone that you knew 20 years ago, and they're 19. You think, weird.

You mentioned Metallica wasn't a favorite band, are there younger artists out there that you like?

Oh yeah. I think the state of music is fantastic. It's difficult to make a living, but there's great music out there. I would say a couple of my new favorite people, M. Ward is one of them, and Kathleen Edwards, who I sang with on the last record ["A Year In The Wilderness"]. I tour with a band called Dead Rock West, they're great. There are tons of singers and songwriters that are out there doing great stuff.

Are there any plans to do new material with X?

We're thinking about it, working on it, trying to figure out where that might fit. It's not totally out of the question.