"Warner E Hodges - One Man, One Electric Guitar, Loads Of Stories".

Warner E. Hodges – One Man Show, One Electric Guitar, Loads Of Stories

There are guitar players… and then there are forces of nature. Warner E. Hodges sits firmly in the second camp — a six-string hurricane with a Southern drawl, a punk rock attitude and a heart soaked in country soul. And for this special appearance, Warner strips it right back for an intimate one man show — just one man, one electric guitar and a lifetime of rock 'n' roll stories told the way only he can. Raul Malo of The Mavericks once said that if aliens ever landed on Earth and asked to see what rock 'n' roll truly is, the one place you should take them is wherever Warner Hodges is playing — because there is simply no finer example of what rock 'n' roll is, should be, has been and will continue to be.

Warner's story begins in Würzburg, Germany, where he was born into an American military family. Music flowed through the house like Tennessee whiskey — both his parents loved country music and young Warner first joined their band as a drummer. But destiny came roaring in around 1970 when his older brother handed him three records that would change everything: Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Soon after, his father took him to see an up-and-coming band called Deep Purple, with the legendary Ritchie Blackmore on guitar. That night lit the fuse — Warner put down the drums, picked up a guitar, and never looked back.

Two musical lightning strikes would shape his sound forever. First came the thunder of AC/DC, whose raw power and swagger hit him like a runaway freight train. Then came the explosion of the Sex Pistols, whose DIY punk spirit showed Warner that rock 'n' roll was never meant to be polite — it was meant to be loud, dangerous and alive. Armed with that volatile mix of country roots, punk attitude and hard rock fire, Warner dove headfirst into the Nashville underground scene.

Before long he and school friends Perry Baggs and Jeff Johnson met a singer with a wild idea — fuse Hank Williams with the Ramones. That singer was Jason Ringenberg, and together they formed Jason & The Scorchers, a band that would change the course of American roots rock. Signing with Praxis Management, the Scorchers released two EPs and six albums and became pioneers of what the world now calls Alt-Country or Americana, building a reputation as one of the most explosive live bands on the planet. In recognition of that legacy, the Americana Music Association awarded them the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance in 2008.

Warner's guitar never sat still for long. In 2007 he joined Dan Baird and Mauro Magellan (both formerly of the Georgia Satellites) to form Dan Baird & Homemade Sin, a band that would record five studio albums and tour relentlessly across Europe and the USA. Their biggest selling album, Rollercoaster, was produced by Warner himself.

From 2010 onwards, Warner began carving out a parallel solo career, releasing four albums including Right Back Where I Started, featuring a backing band made up of musicians from Cheap Trick, The Mavericks and Steve Earle & The Dukes. Spending increasing amounts of time in Europe, Warner eventually formed the Warner E. Hodges Band, releasing Just Feels Right in 2020, followed by Boots Up… The Story So Far in 2022 celebrating fifteen years of his solo career. His latest album, Soul Shaker, arrived in 2023, recorded at Nashville's Underground Treehouse Studio.

With Ben Marsden on guitar, Jason Knight on bass and Shane Dixon on drums, the full band can run from Black Sabbath into Merle Haggard and straight back out through AC/DC without even breaking a sweat — Southern grit, punk swagger and rock 'n' roll thunder all rolled into one.

But this night is something different.

This time Warner walks on stage alone.

Just a Telecaster, an amp turned up warm, and decades of stories from the road — tales from the birth of Alt-Country, life in Nashville, touring the world and sharing stages with some of rock and roll's greatest characters. It's raw, funny, honest and packed full of the guitar playing that made Warner Hodges a legend among musicians.

And the respect he commands from fellow artists says it all:

"If aliens were to land on Earth… whatever you do, find where Warner Hodges is playing. There is no finer example of what rock 'n' roll is." — Raul Malo, The Mavericks

"If ever a human was put on this earth specifically to play the absolute shit out of the guitar, it's Warner E. Hodges." — Charlie Starr, Blackberry Smoke

"Warner Hodges is a world class rock guitar player with a solid gold hillbilly heart." — Steve Earle

"Warner fucking Hodges… one day people will utter that name while describing mythical levels of showmanship and world-crushing guitar skills." — Ginger Wildheart

"The first time I saw Warner perform I knew he was an exceptional talent." — Bill Berry, R.E.M.

"I loved Warner's playing ever since Jason & The Scorchers. I even had the pleasure of being in his rhythm section on Right Back Where I Started." — Tom Petersson, Cheap Trick

So when Warner E. Hodges rolls into town for this rare one man show, you're not just seeing a gig.

You're witnessing a living slice of rock 'n' roll history… one electric guitar at a time.