Fender Team with Hendrix Camp for Experience Hendrix Tour

“I feel sad for people who have to judge Jimi Hendrix on the basis of recordings and film alone; because in the flesh he was so extraordinary,” wrote Who guitarist Pete Townshend about Rolling Stone’s Greatest Guitarist of all-time. “He had a kind of alchemist's ability; when he was on the stage, he changed. He physically changed. He became incredibly graceful and beautiful.”

Hendrix likewise changed the music world with his artistic vision, exploration and mastery of the electric guitar, perhaps best illustrated during his defining Woodstock performance of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

"Hendrix's performance of ‘Star Spangled Banner' at Woodstock was a turning point in the history of the counter-culture movement,” wrote Wayne Pemu in his “Star Spangled Banned: Anthem Of A Generation" essay.  “As a summing up of one of the most volatile eras in the nation's history, his adaptation of our national anthem has entered into our cultural lexicon as perhaps the most powerful musical touchstone of the era, a zeitgeist of expressiveness.”
 
Synonymous with Hendrix’s infamous Woodstock guitar solo is the Fender Strat, a pairing between artist and instrument that was repeated at some of the most important and celebrated moments in music history including the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and Isle of Wight Festival (1970), and of course his original album recordings: Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968).
 
Fender is honoring that cultural connection between Hendrix and the Strat by supporting the upcoming “Experience Hendrix” tour, which kicks off March 4 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
 
“Fender is very excited to be a part of the Experience Hendrix tour.  For people that love guitars and the music that Jimi Hendrix created and inspired, there is no better illustration of that passion than images of Jimi with his Stratocaster,” said Richard McDonald, Fender’s senior vice president of global marketing. “Jimi Hendrix is responsible for creating millions guitar players worldwide for over 40 years and we are delighted to share in the celebration of his continuing legacy.”
 
Some of the best known and most respected guitarists and performers in contemporary rock and blues will pay tribute to the life and legacy of Hendrix during the tour, including Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), Doyle Bramhall II, Ernie Isley, Living Colour, Double Trouble’s Chris Layton on drums, along with bassist Billy Cox. On selected Experience Hendrix tour stops, these artists will be joined by a variety of guest players including Susan Tedeschi, Hubert Sumlin, Sacred Steel featuring Robert Randolph as well as Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas.
 
Fender is offering a pair of FREE tickets to six of the 19 shows. Register to win now!
 
In addition to the chance to hear some of his classic tunes played live, Hendrix lovers will soon be privy to new music; Experience Hendrix LLC and Sony Music Entertainment's Legacy Recordings are set to launch their monumental 2010 Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project on Tues., March 9, with the release of Valleys of Neptune, a new album of 12 fully realized studio recordings and more than 60 minutes of music never commercially available on a Jimi Hendrix album.
 
Centered around tracks recorded during a pivotal and turbulent four-month period in 1969, Valleys of Neptune unveils the original Jimi Hendrix Experience's final studio recordings, as the group lays down the foundation for its follow-up to Electric Ladyland, alongside the guitar superhero's first sessions with bassist Billy Cox, an old army buddy he'd recruited into his new ensemble.
 
For more information of the Experience Hendrix tour and the new Jimi Hendrix CD release of Valleys of Neptune, visit www.jimihendrix.com.

 EXPERINECE HENDRIX TOUR DATES