Warner E. Hodges (born June 4, 1959) is an American rock guitarist best known for his service in Jason & the Scorchers. His longtime bandmate, Jason Ringenberg, called Hodges "the only guitarist in the world who can really bridge the gap between James Burton and Angus Young."
Hodges is from Nashville, Tennessee, and even among the many first-rate players from "Guitar Town," he has a longstanding reputation as an ace guitar slinger. His style melds hard rock and heavy metal as well as punk and country.
Early life
Hodges was born in Würzburg, Germany. His father, Edgar W. Hodges, was a U.S. Army officer who served in Korea, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and the Panama Canal Zone in addition to Germany.
Edgar and his wife Blanche were professional country musicians who toured with USO shows, entertaining troops at military bases. Their band, Swingin' Strings, opened for well-known performers including Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, and Porter Wagoner.
Blanche Hodges, a singer, had "a soft, pretty Southern voice." She and Ed made a special guest appearance on the 1998 live album by Jason & the Scorchers, Midnight Roads & Stages Seen. Before the performance of “Walking the Dog” by Rufus Thomas, she observed that she used the song as a lullaby for little Warner.
Young Warner's first instrument was drums. He performed in front of a live audience for the first time at age 10 as a drummer when his parents needed a fill-in. However, Warner fell in love with guitar after seeing Angus Young perform at an AC/DC show.
By that time, following his father's retirement from the Army in 1973, the Hodges family had settled in Nashville. Edgar and Blanche were strong supporters of their son's musical endeavors.
Career
With Jason & the Scorchers
Hodges was in a Nashville band called the Electric Boys along with two other future members of Jason & the Scorchers, Jeff Johnson and Perry Baggs. In 1981 they joined forces with Ringenberg.
Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, as they were originally known, were instrumental in the development of the cowpunk genre. Hodges' deep knowledge of country music, courtesy of his upbringing, helped form the bedrock of the band in tandem with his particular set of influences. In a 2017 interview, he cited Danny Gatton as his all-time favorite guitar player, along with a long list of rock and country artists, famous stars as well as less-recognized names.
His playing, which combined power and subtlety, was an integral part of the band's sound.
The guitarist contributed greatly to the visual aspect of the band's performances as well. Though Ringenberg was a highly energetic frontman, Hodges was also visually prominent and full of showmanship. He typically wore "boots with dangerous-looking spurs." He played solos with a cigarette in his nose and a longneck beer bottle in his mouth. He spun himself in circles on stage. He threw his guitar on its strap over his shoulder 360 degrees and continued to play without missing.
Both the spinning and over-the-shoulder moves may be seen in the appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on April 29, 1998: ().
An apt description of Hodges as a guitar hero came in 1989. Stereo Review noted that he "shows more imagination per cut than most axemen demonstrate in a lifetime. On top of pouring out riffs like a rumbling volcano spits out lava, Hodges will interpolate delicate little rhythmic accents...He often manages to be brutal and graceful at the same time."
A 1995 account noted that Hodges' "vast warehouse of guitar tricks" included "Chuck Berry riffs, crunching heavy metal sputter, barbed-wire arpeggios, [and] Eddie Van Halen squalls."
The Scorchers disbanded in 1990 but reformed in 1993. They were active throughout the rest of the 1990s and have reconvened sporadically since then with various lineups; Ringenberg and Hodges are the constants.
Their last album to date is Halcyon Times (2010).
With Dan Baird & Homemade Sin
Former Georgia Satellites frontman Dan Baird introduced this band in 2005, with Hodges joining him on lead guitar. A 2008 article in the Irish Times noted the presence of the "celebrated guitarist" on the group's debut album. Hodges played with Homemade Sin on various records and tours in addition to fronting his own band. A 2018 show review noted that Baird and Hodges gave "the undeniable sense you were in the room with a power source."
With the Disciples of Loud
This band self-released an album called Let the Beatings Begin in 2003. Nashville Scene described the "guitar-slinger extraordinaire" and lead vocalist vividly that December.