All-star salute to Jimi Hendrix arrives Thursday

OK, so you might not have power, but you can still feel the awesome musical power of Jimi Hendrix, Thursday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Not the actual Jimi Hendrix, of course – he’s been dead for 54 years.

Thursday’s concert marks the bay area return of the national Experience Hendrix tour, produced and endorsed by the Hendrix family since 1995. The deal is this: A bunch of top shelf electric guitar players spend a month on the road, crossing the country, playing Hendrix’s best-known and deep tracks alongside thundering drums and bass.

The 2024 edition kicked off in mid-September in Seattle, the Hendrix hometown.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Publicity photo.

The headlining axe-man for this particular tour is blues guitar smoker Kenny Wayne Shepherd, from Shreveport, Louisiana. The self-taught Shepherd refers to Hendrix as “the greatest guitar player of all time.”

The rest of the lineup is somewhat fluid, depending on the city being visited, but the tour’s official itinerary says these musicians will play the Clearwater date, along with Shepherd:

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Johnson, Dweezil Zappa, Taj Farrant, Chris Layton (drummer from Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band), Noah Hunt (vocalist from Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band), steel guitar aces Chuck Campbell and Calvin Cooke (from The Slide Brothers), Ally Venable, Mato Nanji, Dylan Triplett, bassist Kevin McCormick (bassist for Shepherd’s “other” band, the Rides) and more.

According to the Experience Hendrix website, longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde is not scheduled to perform at the Clearwater show. His name appeared in some advertisements.

Tickets for Experience Hendrix (8 p.m. Oct. 17) at Ruth Eckerd Hall are available here.