Satellite now Homemade Sin

Dan Baird's name may not register to most music fans, but mention his former band, The Georgia Satellites, and their 1986 hit song, "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," and the nods and smiles of recognition are likely to follow.

The song made it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, held back by Bon Jovi's bigger hit, "Livin' on a Prayer." The Satellites' salute to amorous teens did come out in the same year that MTV created its Video Music Awards, and the song's popular video won the Best Art Director award.

Baird left that band behind 25 years ago, and he is not at all reluctant to talk about the reasons why he left to pursue a life of sin -- or at least to now call his current band Homemade Sin.

"Were you ever married and reached a point where you just decided, 'This is done. It's over,' and you just walk away," Baird explains. "By the time of that big hit song, I felt really hemmed-in, both artistically and personally, and I knew the band would just continue on, rehashing it. But it was time for me to move on.

"And as for the 'sin' part in my current band's name, my granddad was a preacher, and he would talk about something being 'as ugly as homemade sin.' While I'm not overly religious, I'd call myself spiritual, sort of that left-wing hippie dippy thing. I've got a nasty sense of humor, which led to a couple of the choices I made for my album names. There was the Satellites' 1989 album, In the Land of Salvation and Sin, plus the name I put on my first solo album, calling it Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired, which came about because the name of producer Rick Rubin's label then was Def American Recordings."

Baird's 1992 album, Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired, contained a lesser hit, "I Love You Period," known for its humorous lyrics, which were structured as a grammar lesson.

Born in San Diego, Baird had moved with his family to Atlanta when he was a teenager.

He went through various musical stages before he found his way into the Georgia Satellites and also after he left. He has released eight solo albums (the latest of which, Get Loud, came out in 2015) and also been a member of The Yayhoos (albums in 2001 and 2006) and The Bluefields (three albums from 2012-14). He has also toured or recorded with Trent Summar & the New Row Mob and Will Hoge, and has lived in Nashville, Tenn., since 1989.

His Homemade Sin members are drummer Mauro Magellan (who was with Baird in the Georgia Satellites), bassist Micke Nilsson and lead guitarist Warner E. Hodges (known also for his work in Jason & the Scorchers).

"Every night is completely different," Baird says. "We don't use a set list. I don't get to decide much, but what I do get to decide is what songs I play. There will be a couple of sad songs and a bunch of fun songs. The strongest point for this band is 'intent,' how they just jump into it like it's the last song on earth."

As for his old band -- which is still around with lead guitarist/vocalist Rick Richards at the helm -- Baird laughs at any thought of a reunion, but admits to doing a few of the old songs he contributed.

"We do a brief bit of those," he explains, "but we don't do 'Battleship Chains' or their version of that old Swinging Blue Jeans' hit, 'Hippy Hippy Shake.' Those songs were sung by Ricky."

Baird is 62 and feels like he's still rocking as hard as ever.

"I consider rock 'n' roll to really be just loud folk music," he says with a laugh. "And I quit smoking so I can still hit those high notes."

Style on 03/08/2016