The era of Jimi Hendrix was the defining era of rock guitar.
Sure, sure, there were other great time spans. But in the time between his debut single in 1966 and his death in 1970, Hendrix roamed the same landscape as blues masters, rock innovators, and jazz giants. This was the heyday of Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Wes Montgomery, Carlos Santana and all the kings (B.B., Freddie, and Albert).
Guitarist Eric Johnson was a teenager in this era.
“If I’d been born in the ’80s, I don’t think I would have played guitar,” Johnson told the Boston Herald. “It’s not a judgment thing as much as it’s an attraction thing. The function of guitar is different now. You listen to old B.B. King or Freddie King records, the Bluesbreakers John Mayall with Eric Clapton, you listen to ‘Spoonful’ off the first Cream record or the first Jimi Hendrix records, you hear a certain sound, a timbre, to the electric guitar. To me, it was just so attractive.”
Johnson gets the time and space to explore that sound on the 2025 edition of the Experience Hendrix Tour, which stops at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium on March 27.
The annual event celebrates the art and legacy of Jimi Hendrix with an all-star line-up of guitar heroes — just a few of the names included on this edition are Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zakk Wylde, Samantha Fish and Dweezil Zappa. Johnson estimates this jaunt will be his 10th with Experience Hendrix.
“It’s a semi vacation where you play for 20 minutes and then you watch everyone else play,” said the Grammy-winning guitar legend. “It brings together people you won’t normally see (on one bill) and everybody has a different interpretation of Jimi’s music.”
Hendrix died at 27. But in his short time, he wrote hundreds of songs. Knowing that many on the tour will hit up tour organizer and Newton resident John McDermott with requests to play “Purple Haze” or “Little Wing,” Johnson often goes for lesser known tracks.
“I go toward doing those songs that are a little off the beaten path, songs like ‘One Rainy Wish,’ ‘Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland),’ or ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp,’” he said.
Through his involvement in the Hendrix tribute tour, Johnson has had the chance to play a couple of Jimi’s guitars. And he has a very Jimi answer when asked about that experience.
“It is just an instrument so I don’t know how much prominence should be put on that, then again, I think there’s maybe a lot of energy going on that we don’t see and we don’t hear,” he said. “I think people’s intentions and vibes (resonate) mostly with other people, but maybe with an instrument too… That stuff can subtly affect stuff. The two instruments that I’ve played of his had a vibe. I don’t know how much it was me projecting onto the guitar and how much of it was Jimi’s vibe.”
Anyone familiar with Hendrix and his work knows that that vibe runs deep, that it runs right through from 1966 to the 2025 edition of the Experience Hendrix Tour.
For tickets and details, visit experiencehendrixtour.com
