Jimi thing

It all started at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival in 1995.

Jimi Hendrix’s father, Al Hendrix, put together a tribute show to his late, great guitarist son. It headlined a Bumbershoot concert and it proved to be a huge hit. The Hendrix family then developed the idea of an all-star tribute concert and eventually took the show to New York, London and other cities.

Now, the Experience Hendrix Tour has become a touring phenomenon, which will thunder its way into Spokane’s INB Performing Arts Center on Wednesday.

Hendrix, who died in 1970, can be present only in spirit. Yet the tour features a rotating lineup of guitar heroes who either inspired Hendrix or emulated him.

Here’s the lineup for the Spokane show:

• Mitch Mitchell – The original drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

• Billy Cox – The bass player (briefly) for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the bass player for Hendrix’s later group, Band of Gypsies, formed in 1969.

• Andy Aledort – A legendary New York session guitarist.

• Doyle Bramhall II – The Texas blues and rock guitarist.

• Eric Gales – The rock and blues guitarist who is often compared to Hendrix – and plays lefthanded in the Hendrix style.

• Buddy Guy – The veteran Louisiana blues guitarist and singer, and a Hendrix role model.

• Robby Krieger – The man responsible for the “Break On Through” guitar riff, along with many others. He was the guitarist for the Doors.

• Jonny Lang – One of the best of the current crop of blues and rock guitar virtuosos.

• Chris Layton – The former drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

• Mato Nanji – The guitarist for the Native American rock band Indigenous.

• Queensryche – The Bellevue heavy metal band with a string of hit albums in the 1980s and 1990s.

• Hubert Sumlin – The veteran blues guitarist who was in Howlin’ Wolf’s band and another role model for Hendrix.

The song list is as variable as the lineup. But if the shows in other cities are any guide, Guy will be featured on “Red House” and “Hey Joe,” along with Cox and Mitchell. Sumlin and Guy will trade solos on a few songs.

Lang will play “Fire.” Gales will conjure up the classic Hendrix sound on “Purple Haze” and “Foxy Lady.” Gales might even throw in a behind-the-back guitar solo.

You might not get the full Hendrix “experience,” but you’ll get a roaring, high-volume dose of Hendrix spirit.