Experience Hendrix is a biennial concert tour featuring an all-star line up of music greats paying homage to the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix. This very special concert launched on March 4, 2010, in Santa Barbara, in our own backyard.

Some of the artists who performed music written and inspired by Jimi Hendrix included Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, Doyle Bramhall II, Ernie Isley, Living Colour, Hubert Sumlin, Double Trouble’s Chris Layton, along with bassist Billy Cox.
 
I first got to the venue the night before the show; it was the end of Joe Satriani’s sound check. I met the stage manager and he set me up along with my son Cody with a press passes. Then I got to listen to Kenny Wayne’s sound check. Kenny Wayne sounded great. I got a chance to talk with Chris Layton, SRV’s drummer, along with Vernon Reid, Doug Wimbish and Corey Glover of Living Colour. I gave them each a gift bag that had some Seymour Duncan catalogs as well as pickups and pedals.
 
Speaking of pedals, some of the guys on stage had huge pedal boards. I was happy to see that there were a bunch of my pedals up there. The funny thing is that back when I used to watch Jimi play, he just used an Arbitor Fuzz Face and wah.
 
The next day, Brad Whitford’s tech, Mario, installed a set of my Antiquity pickups into the Strat® Brad was about play. He told me that those pickups made that particular guitar come alive. Eric Johnson told me that the Strat he was playing was once stolen from him and he recovered it many years later, and it had some pickups I custom wound for him many years ago. I still have Eric’s letter to me asking for those pickups. Speaking of stolen guitars, Joe Satriani told me that he had Pearly Gates humbuckers in one of his guitars that was stolen.

During the show, I had a chance to talk with a bunch of the guys. I enjoyed talking with Billy Cox who was playing our Quarter Pound bass pickups. I had a nice talk with Kenny Wayne about coming to the factory and winding some pickups. I spoke with Jonny Lang. I used to talk with Jonny around 15 years ago when he was just a teenager. Cesar and David from Los Lobos are old friends and I enjoyed speaking with them. I also talked with Janie Hendrix and Doyle Bramhall II.
 
When it was all over, I got to go home and sleep in my own bed. Not for the artists and crew. They were just beginning this tour which goes through the end of the month. There will be shows in major U.S. markets including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis and Atlanta. I hope you can make it because I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did!

Here there are some pictures from the show!

Billy Cox, Experience Hendrix tour, Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Eric Johnson, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Brad Whitford, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Cesar Rosas – Los Lobos, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

David Hidalgo – Los Lobos, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Janie Hendrix, Seymour Duncan, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Seymour Duncan, Eric Johnson backstage, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Seymour Duncan, Brad Whitford backstage, Experience Hendrix tour. Image by Cody Duncan – codyduncan.com

Brad Whitford backstage working the Seymour Duncan pedal Tweak Fuzz, Experience Hendrix tour.

Another Seymour Duncan pedal Deja Vu, Experience Hendrix tour.