Previewing a massive UK tour for the new Dan Baird & Homemade Sin album Rollercoaster, Baird, a former member of the Georgia Satellites, and bandmate Warner E Hodges, also the guitarist with Jason & The Scorchers, spoke to Classic Rock.
How did the two of you form Homemade Sin ten years ago?
Dan Baird: We’d had the same manager but there was a mutual appreciation society.
Warner E Hodges: I was a big fan of Dan and Mauro [Magellan, drums] when they were in the Georgia Satellites. Originally I was only helping them out for a tour, but once I got in there it was hard to push me out.
Nobody plays 22-date tours of the UK any more. Are you mad?
Baird: Mick Brown, our manager, is insane. That’s the long and the short of it. He booked a few festivals, and then filled in the gaps with some places that we’d never played before.
You’re going to be playing at the Ramblin’ Man Fair. Have you heard much about the event?
Hodges: Oh, I was at the first one with the Scorchers [on the Outlaw Country stage in 2015]. It was a load of fun, but it was hard to be heard with Scorpions playing nearby at stun volume level! We had to ditch our two down-country songs because they wouldn’t stand a chance against [in Germanic accent]: ‘Rock you like a hurricane.’ I hope that situation isn’t repeated.
The band now play unplugged on a regular basis. How do the two disciplines compare?
Baird: We did one run of acoustic and I guess it worked out okay, but we’re really an electric rock band that can do acoustic shows – though in reality they’re semi‑acoustic.
Hodges: I prefer electric, but our fanbase dug the acoustic format because it allowed us to play far more songs from our catalogue. Some of those were great, others a complete train wreck.
Baird: But that’s why the fans come – they know each night will be a little different.
Hodges: We always work without a set-list. Set-lists are boring. Dan’s the only one who knows what’s coming next, and even he isn’t real sure [they both guffaw].
Do you know which of the Rollercoaster songs you’ll play?
Baird: You’ll hear Licka Sense and Shake It Til It’s Sore for sure. Knocked Out Cold is a possibility. The Other Side and Bury Me Standing are our sing-song numbers. Don’t rule out the ballad Do My Worst.
Dan, Homemade Sin includes two former members of the Satellites. Could there ever be a reunion of that band?
Baird: [abruptly] Nope.
Nothing to add to that?
Baird: Nope. It would require a very complicated and personal answer, so I must respectfully decline to comment.
The last date of the tour is November 12 at Manchester Academy 3.
