This issue's cover story was inspired by something Michael Astley-Brown, our digital editor-in-chief, said to me back in June, which went a bit like this:
“I was reading our feature on 24-year-old Towa Bird, and I was struck by the fact that Jimi Hendrix was the catalyst for her learning guitar. It reminded me that I see this from a lot of younger players of all genres – Hendrix more than any other classic rock artist, with Polyphia being probably the highest-profile new artist to cite him as their reason for starting.”
Inspired by this, I did some research on my own, which basically involved revisiting more than a year’s worth of print stories, and – egads! He was right.
The bottom line is, when Guitar World – print or online – asks up-and-coming guitarists about their major influences, Hendrix is the most common (or is it commonest?) denominator – that is, once again, in terms of classic, established and/or legendary players.
Why is this, you ask? Who can say! People are gonna like who and what they’re gonna like. (How else can you explain the fact that Taxi lasted a mere five seasons while Keeping Up with the Kardashians hung around for 20?)
But it could have something to do with Hendrix’s “person ahead of his/her time” vibe, a vibe shared by a select few humans, including Eddie Van Halen, Cliff Gallup, Leonardo da Vinci, Shawn Lane, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Steve Vai and Hans Laube, the inventor of Smell-O-Vision.
But we think we did a damn fine job answering the “How?” question, courtesy of Andy Aledort’s latest GW lesson (with tab and video), “Under His Wings,” which starts on page 60.
BTW, I have to say I’m particularly fond of this issue, due to the interesting cast of characters that fill its pages, from Trevor Rabin to the Stones to the Velvet Underground’s John Cale to Baroness to Dave Meniketti to Steve Lukather to Mr. Jimmy to Mr. Kingfish.
For a deeper look at this issue's features, Scroll down a few more inches!
This issue (AKA the action-packed Holiday 2023 issue of Guitar World) is available right here, right now.
What's Inside...
>>>>>>> How and why Jimi Hendrix is still inspiring the latest generation of guitarists – 53 years after his death. Featuring new interviews with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Mateus Asato, Ayron Jones, Melanie Faye, Ally Venable and more. [By Jim Beaugez]
>>>>>>> GW’s resident Jimi Hendrix authority, Andy Aledort, demonstrates how the legendary, groundbreaking guitarist still influences the modern rock, blues and R&B styles of six of today’s most admired players, with tabs and video. [By Andy Aledort]
>>>>>>> Keef's cohorts! In celebration of the band's new album, Hackney Diamonds, we examine how Brian Jones, Mick Taylor, Ronnie Wood shaped the Rolling Stones. [By Alan di Perna]
>>>>>>> Baroness guitarists John Baizley and Gina Gleason concoct a new way forward on the band’s latest album, Stone. [By Jim Beaugez]
>>>>>>> Trevor Rabin, the six-string wizard (and songwriter) behind Owner of a Lonely Heart, shares the stories behind six classic Yes tracks and six tracks from his masterful new album, Rio (an album that Steve Morse seems to love, by the way!) [By Andrew Daly]
>>>>>>> What everyone can learn from Steve Lukather: The melodic maestro discusses the advantages of not being a shredder – and the wisdom behind releasing full-length works in the age of shrunken attention spans. [By Andrew Daly]
>>>>>>> Y&T frontman Dave Meniketti tells us why he turned down Peter Frampton's supergroup offer and how Y&T might've been huge if only they could've opened for themselves! [By Joe Bosso]
We also have new interviews with Velvet Underground cofounder John Cale, Japan's amazing Mr. Jimmy, Big Thief's Buck Meek, Angel Vivaldi, the Black Crowes' Rich Robinson (who tells us about his pedalboard), Beach Boys cofounder Al Jardine and Boris guitarist Wata, plus Jon Dretto and Soen.
In our Columns section, Joe Bonamassa shows off his 1964 Gibson Firebird V (check out the video above!) and Andy Aledort shows you how to play Magic Sam's Sam’s Boogie (part 2). There are also new entries from Andy Timmons and Josh Smith.
Our song transcriptions are Metallica's Disposable Heroes, Marcus King's The Well and Audioslave's Be Yourself.
We have reviews of Fender's new Vintera II series, the Boss DM-101 Delay Machine, the Ciari Guitars Ascender Standard and the Mod Electronics Phase/Off pedal. In Power Tools, Chris Gill explores the history and allure of the circa 1967 to present Guild F-412 and F-512 jumbo 12-string acoustics.
OK, I have to get back to work on the next issue now (for real). See you in four-ish weeks! Enjoy November!
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