Academy Award-nominated actor John C. Reilly will channel his inner rock star in the following week as he travels across the states in character, to promote the Judd Apatow-produced “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

Sony and Columbia Pictures’ “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” will benefit from some merry promoting, as star John C. Reilly will tour the country in character as Dewey Cox, a fictional beloved musician.

As Cox, Reilly will perform live with his band, the Hard Walkers, for the “Cox Across America Tour.” The first gig is scheduled for Wednesday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; concerts follow in Chicago; Austin, Texas; Nashville; San Francisco; Los Angeles; and New York's Knitting Factory, reports trade paper Variety.

Each show will be preceded by a special screening of “Walk Hard.” The movie opens Dec. 21. Columbia Records is releasing the soundtrack, which includes 30 original songs, today.

Reilly stars as the fictional rock ‘n’ roll icon Dewey Cox, a man who goes through the customary struggles of thrilling success, jadedness, womanizing, substance abuse, rehabilitation, comeback and maturity in his musical career. Jenna Fischer co-stars as his backup singer and wife, Darlene.

The movie is a parody of the biopic genre. It was directed by Jake Kasdan, from a script co-written by Judd Apatow and himself. The two also paired up on production. Apatow has previously directed “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.”

The comedy is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.

The touring strategy has been used before by Columbia, and successfully too, when the studio promoted “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” last year. Star Will Ferrell made the rounds on the NASCAR circuit as Ricky Bobby. Reilly co-starred. That comedy went on to gross more than $148 million domestically for the studio.

As to the current tour, the masterminds behind the promotional stunt were Reilly and Apatow, Valerie Van Galder, president of domestic marketing for Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, told Variety.

“He's unleashing his inner rock star,” Galder said of Reilly. “But this is a little different than ‘Talladega Nights,’ because it actually requires him to perform live. It works, though, because in addition to being a prodigiously talented actor, John is also a fabulous singer.”

Reilly was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor in 2005, for the musical “Chicago,” which included a solo number for him.