Jimi Hendrix Catalog Director Dives Into Work With Family Estate

“Jimi Hendrix does the heavy lifting in this company … At the end of the day, it’s his great music that brings people together.”

John McDermott serves as the Catalog Director for Experience Hendrix, the Jimi Hendrix family company, and joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday (March 20) to discuss his work with the estate.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I’m very fortunate in that I work on each of the Jimi Hendrix projects together with Janie Hendrix and Eddie Kramer, who is Jimi’s original engineer,” McDermott told Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

“Whether it’s album packages, documentaries, things like that, if it furthers people’s appreciation and understanding of Jimi Hendrix, that’s our goal.”

When he was asked about a standout moment in his 30 years working with the Hendrix family, McDermott — a Hendrix superfan and expert himself — couldn’t single out one moment.

“It’s a great honor to have an association with Jimi’s music,” McDermott admitted.

“He’s a singular artist on a global basis, not just as American popular culture, but as a global artist. I’m grateful that we’ve had the continuity we’ve had to be able to work together collaboratively with Janie and Eddie to be able to put these packages together. We take great care in them and we really try to do our best.”

McDermott said he always looks at anything he does with the family through the prism of being a fan and hoping that the fans, in turn, see that.

“Just making sure that a vinyl reissue of Axis: Bold as Love is done correctly, that’s important. I’m certainly proud to be part of those things.”

But when he really thought about one of the prouder moments in his work, he landed on The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set that came out in 2000.

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“I must say, the purple box set that we put out with the purple velvet was a wonderful moment,” McDermott shared.

“It allowed us to dig deeper into the recordings that Jimi had made with the original Experience and Chas Chandler. I’ve had many moments like that where I’m really pleased with the packages that we’ve done.”

What Else Did John McDermott Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What it was like developing the new documentary, Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision
• How he conceived of The Experience Hendrix Tour and what it’s like booking artists for it
• How he ended up working with the Hendrix family in the early-’90s

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

John McDermott joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, March 20; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.