A brief history of Experience Hendrix Tour's 2019 Spring Tour

The Experience Hendrix Tour, the critically acclaimed multi-artist celebration of Jimi Hendrix's musical genius is returning in 2019 with its biggest ever tour—30 dates through the East Coast, South and Midwest. What began as a single show tribute at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2000 has blossomed into a full-fledged concert experience that has thrilled countless fans across the US. The tour presents a host of great artists collaborating and interpreting Hendrix's legendary songs as part of a powerhouse, three hour concert experience.

This latest edition of the much anticipated tour once again emphasizes the influence Hendrix has made on a diverse group of artists. The concerts will bring together artists as disparate as guitar wizard Joe Satriani, blues great Taj Mahal, and Dweezil Zappa. Megadeath's Dave Mustaine will make his Experience Hendrix Tour debut while mainstays such as Billy Cox, Jonny Lang, and Eric Johnson will also be on board for the expedition. The Experience Hendrix Tour offers fans a rare opportunity to see many highly regarded players performing together in a unique setting.

15-time Grammy Award nominee Joe Satriani will make his long-awaited return when the tour kicks off March 3 in Pompano Beach, FL. Notable for being the biggest-selling instrumental rock guitarist of all time, Satriani came to the forefront with the release of his 1987 solo album Surfing with the Alien. He has worked with Mick Jagger, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult and the fabled Spinal Tap and is a member of rock super group Chickenfoot. In keeping with the spirit of the Experience Hendrix Tour, Satriani has formed an all star trio especially for the occasion, calling upon bassist and vocalist dUg Pinnick from King's X, and prolific sideman Kenny Aronoff on drums to serve as his rhythm section.

Satriani commented, "The Experience Hendrix Tours are always so much fun. The camaraderie between all the musicians on the show is magical. I'm so excited to play some deep Hendrix tracks in a power trio setting with dUg Pinnick and Kenny Aronoff!!!"

Originally the lead guitarist for Metallica, Dave Mustaine next founded Megadeath in 1983 and the group has earned a loyal, worldwide following. The Southern California native can be considered an architect of the speed metal movement, which is one of many branches on the family tree of heavy, guitar-based music that can be traced back to Jimi Hendrix. With five platinum albums and one multi-platinum album under his belt, Mustaine and his sound are institutions in the rock world. The 2019 Experience Hendrix Tour will be his first.

Dave Mustaine expressed his excitement about being part of the tour. "Jimi Hendrix. The name that comes to my mind as one the 'Premiere American Guitarists Of All Time.' An Innovator, and legendary musician, I am beyond honored to do my part in this tribute to the immortal Jimi Hendrix, and want to thank [EH Tour producer] John McDermott for inviting me to play along such mind-blowing guitarists as Joe Satriani, and a personal favorite of mine, Eric Johnson. See you there!"

Also hitting the road this time around will be Billy Cox, bassist for both Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Cox has been the backbone of the tour since its inception, providing a spiritual connection between the past and present. Two other artists who enjoyed friendships with Hendrix will also take part. Blues legend Taj Mahal makes a welcome return to the tour, as does the dynamic guitar and vocalist Jonny Lang, the legendary Eric Johnson, Cesar Rosas & David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chris Layton of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble fame as well as Calvin Cooke and Chuck Campbell, the "Sacred Steel" slide guitar masters known as The Slide Brothers, Mato Nanji of Indigenous and Henri Brown.

"The tour is more than a series of concerts," said Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. "It's a celebration of a man whose amazing gift changed the face of music and informed an entire culture. His influences were varied and diverse. And this year we're shining a light on that diversity with artists who represent it across cultures and who also share a love for Jimi and his music. It's exciting to be able to honor Jimi's enduring legacy in this way."

The 2019 Experience Hendrix tour dovetails with the release this November 9 of the Deluxe Edition box set of Electric Ladyland from Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hendrix's masterpiece. It will be available as a 3CD/1 Blu-ray set or a 6LP/1 Blu-ray set, remastered by Bernie Grundman and including Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes, which presents demos and studio outtakes from this period in Hendrix's career, plus a new 5.1 surround sound mix of the entire original album by Hendrix's original engineer Eddie Kramer. Also included is Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68 well as the feature length documentary At Last… The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland.

It has also been announced that every pair of tickets purchased online for select Experience Hendrix Tour dates will come with a physical CD copy of Both Sides of the Sky, heralded by Relix as "both a historically valuable document … and a treat musically," Both Sides of the Sky is the third volume in a trilogy of albums intended to present the best and most significant unissued studio recordings remaining in Jimi Hendrix's archive.

The 2019 Experience Hendrix Tour is sponsored by Yousician, the popular online music instruction platform, along with Fender Musical Instruments, Dunlop, Hal Leonard, and Axe Heaven.