One would think the Experience Music Project in Seattle was named after the Jimi Hendrix Experience, since he grew up in Seattle. You certainly don’t have to wait too long to hear a Hendrix song while walking through this extraordinary museum of music history, culture, and artifacts. While Jimi is certainly respected here (an exhibit was been dedicated to Hendrix for four years), Seattle just couldn’t get enough of it and now a better, revamped version has been created in Jimi Hendrix: An Evolution of Sound.

Anyone who has ever picked up a guitar in the last forty years will usually tell you that they owe homage to Jimi Hendrix. This new display at the EMP shares rare photos, videos, songs, lyrics, equipment and even a page of Jimi’s own diary is open for reading.

 

 The King Kasuals (Jimi Hendrix on the left)
Courtesy of Experience Hendrix

 

The back corner has some of his old guitar pedals inside of a glass case such as a Shin-ei Uni-Vibe effects unit and a King Vox-wah pedal. This is near the Mixing Station where earphones can be donned and a touch screen allows the listener to focus on studio techniques. An example is the multi-layered guitar tracks for the song “Night Bird Flying.” Next to all of this is a life-size image of Jimi in the studio at his own Electric Lady Studios in 1970. 

 

The white Stratocaster that Hendrix played at Woodstock is hung up along with various, smashed guitar pieces from 1967 to 1969. Information here teaches you that often the guitars that Jimi smashed had psychedelic poems and imagery on them. An 8 string bass guitar is also on display and it happens to be the one Jimi played while recording a rare session with Curtis Knight in 1967.

 

 

In the middle of the floor are a couple of seats to sit on that are connected with coffee tables. The tables have built-in iPods containing hundreds of Jimi Hendrix songs available through fantastic sound quality for headphones.

 

Across from that is a wall with small tube screens showing rare images of Hendrix recording, performing in concert, and even images of Miles Davis at Jimi’s funeral in Seattle. The outside of this wall is a host to old concert fliers as well as the controversial cover of Electric Ladyland that was released in the UK that has naked women all over it.  

 

Also on this wall are audio samples of Curtis Knight, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard; all bands Jimi first got started with and he plays on these songs, though only a careful ear can actually hear it. A photo of a young “Private James Marshall Hendrix” is here as many might be surprised to know that Jimi was an Airborne Ranger despite his peace activism in the 60s. Reaching even deeper into his past, there are pictures and audio explanations of how Jimi’s parents met.

 

 

Like the Mixing Station, there is also a Lyric Station set up that gives lyric breakdowns of songs like “Voodoo Chile,” which was partially influenced by Robert Johnson. On this screen, you can drag a window over Jimi’s hand-written lyrics and they are transformed into print for better viewing. Poster-size pictures are hanging on walls that have lyrics to songs like “Love or Confusion” jotted down on hotel paper from the Hyde Park Towers in London.

 

 

On a huge flat-screen television, videos play non-stop and it’s similar to watching a concert, though here you get a comfy love seat to sit on. Watching Jimi and his Band of Gypsys play songs like “Villanova Junction” and “Red House” at Woodstock or at the Fillmore with perfect sound quality is amazing. Add that to the zoomed in shots of his intricate and precise playing and you never want to get up. Much like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a music junkie could spend 3 days inside of the EMP.

 

In fact, after sitting there a while, I looked around and there was no one left in the room. There is so much to see in this display that I really hoped that they’d forget about me and I’d be locked in for the night. Sadly, an employee eventually showed up to inform me that the place was closing in 5 minutes and I had to leave.

 

In the back of the room I noticed a book for signing and one page read: “Who has Jimi Hendrix influenced?” Many people had jotted down several things in these pages, but at the bottom of one page, the name Ani DiFranco was signed. I’m not sure if it was her that signed it or not (probably since she was just in town), but now next to her name I have written “The Second Greatest guitarist of all time: Stevie Ray.” And our signatures are side by side as well.

 

 

Anyways, the EMP is just as much of a must-see to Seattle as the Pike Place Market now, and for the next 2 years, the Jimi Hendrix: An Evolution of Sound exhibit will be on display. Randomville recommends this exhibit to anyone who is a fan of Jimi Hendrix, and it alone might even be worth making a trip to Seattle.

 

Well, that and the coffee is pretty good too.

 

 

 

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