Album Review: The Warner E Hodges Band - "Boots Up! The Best Of The Warner E Hodges Band So Far"

 

As a rule, I try to avoid greatest hits releases on this 'ere webzine but Warner E Hodges, best known as guitarist for Nashville cowpunk legends Jason & The Scorchers, was nice enough to send us a copy of this in the run-up to his UK tour starting next week. I have to be honest, even though I'm a huge Scorchers fan (a Garbage Days Revisited feature on them may be coming soon on this website) and enjoyed his work with the Georgia Satellites’ Dan Baird in Homemade Sin, I've not listened to much of Warner's solo stuff so I figured this would be a good introduction prior to going to catch the Keighley leg of the tour next weekend.

To tell the truth, the majority of the stuff on Boots Up! essentially sounds like a rockier version of the Scorchers with straight-up rockers like Right Back Where I Started and Where You Gone rubbing shoulders with the odd unexpected number to vary things up like the fast-paced Back In Town and Preachin' To The Choir, the lurching boogie of Gunslinger and Money Mississippi and the stomping Unwind. It's the haunting Ghost On The Road, a reflective look at the life of a travelling musician, that's the highlight here though and really shows what this band can do.

Although it doesn't really stray too far from his day job bands, there's enough good songs on here to show that Hodges is a good songwriter in his own right and he and his band serve up a tight and energetic set of songs across this album which more than stand up in their own right. Give this a listen when it comes out and in the meantime, go and catch the tour this week. You'll have fun, trust me.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)