The tour kicked off Sept. 19 in Hendrix’s hometown of Seattle and will stop at San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Tickets are already on sale.
The Alamo City show will feature Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Johnson, Dweezil Zappa, Dylan Triplett, Arthur Menezes and Henri Brown along with Chris Layton of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Mato Manji from Indigenous, Chuck Campbell and Calvin Cooke from the Slide Brothers, and Noah Hunt and Kevin McCormick from Shepherd’s band.
Musicians including Zakk Wylde, Taj Mahal, Samantha Fish and Stanley Jordan are also appearing at other stops along the way.
The Current caught up with Shepherd via phone to talk about the Experience Hendrix Tour’s more-than-slight return, its evolving lineup and why new generations continue to be drawn to Hendrix’s art.
This is the first Experience Hendrix tour in five years. Why now, and how’s it feel to be hitting the road with it again?
Before COVID, this tour had generally worked out to be a biannual event. … But then, obviously, COVID happened and shut everything down for everyone. So, that accounts for two of the years, and then everybody needed to get back to work individually. I think all the different artists, everyone needed to get back out on the road and get their business back up and running. And so I think the five-year break is just really that. It was COVID, then just allowing everyone to get back to work and have enough time for things to get back to normal.
One of the reasons why this tour has endured over the years is because the artists enjoy doing it so much. We’ve been doing it long enough now where it’s like a big traveling musical family, and there’s a lot of artists that have been a part of this thing for a long time. So we have a lot of history together, but we’re also continuously trying to find new talent to bring in and be part of the experience. And so we’ve done that on this tour as well. … Depending on the market, some of the newer artists include Samantha Fish on some shows, we have Christone “Kingfish" Ingram on some shows. … We’re keeping it interesting and having a great time while paying tribute to the greatest of all time.
The Experience Hendrix tour was groundbreaking because it wasn’t a tribute band trying to perfectly recreate Hendrix’s music, but a group of established musicians putting their own spin on the songs. Is it testament to Jimi’s power as a musician that you continue to pull in so many veteran players?
Well, it’s obviously been a very compelling package from the start. In the beginning, it was basically a combination of musicians who played with Hendrix himself, artists that actually influenced Hendrix — like Buddy Guy, for example, because Hendrix studied Buddy Guy’s guitar playing — and then you had artists that were influenced by Hendrix. … Now, over the years it’s evolved.
Back in the day, we had Mitch Mitchell, who was one of Hendrix’s drummers and who did the tour for several years, and then he passed away. And then we had Billy Cox who had been on it for years, and then I believe he’s recently retired from performing. So, time is passing and it’s so important to honor those people and to come see them while they’re still playing. That’s always been my mission in blues music as well. It’s to turn the fans on to these musicians that have inspired me, so people can go check those musicians out while they’re still here to play music.
Now, the tour’s evolved to where we don’t have some of those artists who played with Hendrix, but what we do have — and what really is enduring is Hendrix’s influence — is that you have artists of so many different musical backgrounds, really different genres, coming together. It just goes to show how vast his reach and his influence was with the music that he created in such a short amount of time.
A lot of shit-hot guitar players can amaze fellow shredders but leave regular music fans unimpressed. However, for all his innovation and skill, Hendrix seems to be somebody both musicians and non-musicians continue to be dazzled by. Why do you think that is?
Well, here’s the thing — and that’s always been my approach to my music as well — I’m not one of those technically mind-blowing guitarists that just appeals to the guitar geeks. I’m just not one of those instrumental technicians. And for me as a listener, I always was drawn more to the guitar players I felt were relatable in their talents and in their music. The ones that wrote and recorded music that appealed to more than just the guitar players. And so that’s been my approach. If there’s something special in what I do, it’s not necessarily guitar calisthenics, if you will. My music is based on feel and emotion and evoking that in the listener. … And that’s what Hendrix did as well. He was ahead of his time, probably the most advanced guitar player of his time, but we hadn’t gotten to the point where these guys were just playing up and down the neck and all these different complicated scales and finger tapping and all that stuff. That hadn’t even happened yet, really. So he was really, at that time, the most advanced, but guitarists were still searching, they were still developing rock and roll back then. And I think they were just following their instinct rather than chasing technique.
So, ultimately, I think that’s what makes his music more relatable is he was writing songs. He wasn’t trying to teach a guitar clinic when he was playing. He was writing songs to connect with people.
What do you think is the least understood aspect of Hendrix as a musician and songwriter?
We’re a different generation now than they were then, and so the lyrics of some of his songs can seem a bit far out. And you go, “What is this guy talking about? What is he writing about?” And then you dig into it and you learn about his history and learn about his service in the military. And some of the sounds he was coming up with. He was mimicking the sounds of paratroopers jumping out of airplanes, which is really fascinating. This guy heard that sound in real life and then was trying to recreate it on his guitar. And did a really great job doing it, by the way.
But his lyrics, sometimes they’re a little far out, and you read about his fascination with science fiction and outer space. … But they’re some of the most incredibly profound songs that have been written, and he was an incredible lyricist. Again, some of it’s far out, but the song “Angel” or “Castles Made of Sand” or “Even Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Child.” These are incredible songs that people still enjoy decades later. They were written by a guy in his early 20s and in a very short amount of time. I think sometimes his songwriting ability gets overlooked in favor of his guitar playing, but he was the total package.
Do you think that’s why his legacy has endured, why he’s still such an iconic musician all these years later?
Yes. Well, great musicians are great musicians, but the songs are what make a legacy — in all honesty, a massive, long-lasting legacy. Because great songs are great songs no matter when they’re recorded, and people want to hear them. Classic rock radio is a testament to that. You hear those songs a million times a week on classic rock radio because they’re great songs and people still enjoy listening to them. They will probably a 100 years from now. And it really boils down to the songs, and Jimi had the songs, for sure.
What song are you most excited to be playing on this tour?
Well, my favorite is we do a medley at the end of my part of the show where we weave together “Voodoo Chile Blues” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” which some people might get confused, but they’re two different songs. One’s a really slow blues song and one’s an uptempo guitar-rock anthem — and we do a medley of those two songs. And I’ve been playing “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” almost every show I’ve ever done since I was 15 years old. So I always enjoy playing that song, but the medley hits a little harder with both of those songs back to back.
$49 and up, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com.
