Feeling Blessed: Zakk Wylde thanks ‘the Lord’ for his success

To guitarist Zakk Wylde, touring with Experience Hendrix is a family affair.

Those on the tour bond over their love of guitar and Jimi Hendrix. This year’s Tucson stop on Sunday, Sept. 29, includes Wylde, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Samantha Fish, Taj Mahal, Noah Hunt, Chuck Campbell and Calvin Cooke of the Slide Brothers, Stanley Jordan, Mato Nanji of Indigenous, Dylan Triplett, Ayron Jones and Henri Brown.

The Experience Hendrix Tour evokes the era when artists treated each performance as a conversation with the audience. Hendrix called this his “Electric Church.” The Experience Hendrix Tour embraces this, giving performers — and audiences — a new way to experience the legend.

“Everybody’s celebrating Jimi and it’s awesome,” he said. “It’s amazing. You hear everybody’s interpretation of these songs. That’s the beautiful thing about music. We play the exact same chords and everybody has their own unique twist on what they’re bringing to the table.”

Wylde is set to perform “Manic Depression,” “Purple Haze” and then “All Along the Watchtower” with Jonny Lang. 

“It’s always great doing the jam, too,” Wylde said. “Whenever you’re learning somebody else’s catalog, it’s interesting seeing how other people write and the certain chord progressions, and the changes for the pre-chorus, and what the breakdowns are. 

“Me and you learn how to cook different dishes, whether it’s Thai, Japanese, Italian, whatever the culture is. It only helps you with me coming up with our own recipes. We learn from each other.” 

(Incidentally, Wylde said he’s “not too shabby” of a cook.)

Wylde is busy for the next year. Besides the Experience Hendrix tour, he has gigs with Zakk Sabbath; and Pantera (sitting in on the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s spot), who is touring with Metallica.

“Learning Jimi’s stuff, learning Dime’s stuff, it’s really a beautiful thing,” he said. “The Hendrix faithful comes to shows and say, ‘I saw him back in the day’ or whatever. The young kids who are there, who never witnessed Jimi Hendrix, it’s great for them to see Jimi’s stuff live.

“With Pantera, you have the faithful coming out for them as well. They tell me they saw Pantera in front of eight people, then obviously saw them in the height of their power. For them, to hear the music live, it’s really awesome.” 

Wylde said projects like Experience Hendrix, Pantera and Zakk Sabbath keep him passionate about music. He understands the fortunate position he is in.

“I thank the good Lord every day,” said Wylde, 57. “I’m truly blessed. I wanted to play music since I was 14. Whenever I worked a job, I would save the money to go toward an amp or a guitar. That’s what I always ask kids: If music is what you want to do, you have to be all in, regardless of whatever it is in your life. You should be doing what drives you.

“I’m going out and doing Zakk Sabbath, playing these Sabbath songs. I vividly remember playing keg parties in basements, kitchens, backyards, doing ‘N.I.B.’ and ‘War Pigs.’ Now I’m playing the same songs. There are just a few extra people at the keg party.”