On Sept. 18, 1970, an ABC newscaster reported the stark news of Jimi Hendrix's death as he uttered the words, "The Jimi Hendrix Experience is over." While the band would never be the same without Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell, who died in 2008, bassist Billy Cox found a glimpse of hope in the Midwest. Cox, the last living original band member to play with Hendrix, stumbled upon a little-known Indiana axe slinger—a guitarist whose sound is eerily similar to Hendrix's. Charlie Daniels even said so.
Ever since he was a child, Indianapolis guitarist Vincent Fults has spent decades capturing the sound of Jimi Hendrix, his most revered guitar hero. Now 36 and living in a southeast Indianapolis neighborhood, Fults has amassed an impressive collection of Hendrix gear.
His Marshall amplifier perches atop his guitar cabinet filled with four bass speakers designed deliver Hendrix's signature tone. Fults' white Fender Stratocaster mirrors the guitar Hendrix used early in his career—a far cry from the cheap first guitar Fults inherited from his brother. Fults is even part Cherokee Indian, just like Hendrix. But Fults says he is not a Hendrix impersonator but a starving artist devoted to paying homage to his childhood guitar hero.
To make his dream a reality, the Hoosier axe slinger ditched his dead-end job and decided he would make music his career.
"I just got to the point where I said, ‘Screw it. I'm going to be a musician. I'm going to be rich at it, or just struggling to get by.' But either way, I made that choice. I just wanted to be a musician."
With his vintage gear and impressive chops that he developed over the years, his sound caught the ears of Hendrix historian Ken Voss, who wrote an article about Fults in a Jimi Hendrix newsletter in 2000. Voss contacted Fults again 2007 and said Cox was looking for a guitarist to go on tour. So Fults, following his dream, went to Nashville and tried to arrange a meeting with Cox. During their conversation on the phone, Fults said Cox thought he was like every guitarist who claimed they could play like Hendrix. Fults reassured Cox he was genuine and that he was not a Hendrix impersonator.
"I said, ‘I think it's disrespectful to impersonate a man that's dead. I want to play his music, keep it alive and honor him," Fults said. "I couldn't impersonate him if I wanted to. I'm not left-handed. And I'm not black.'"
After those words, Cox's tone changed, and he met Fults at a Days Inn. Fults played 10 songs. "Dolly Dagger," "Machine Gun" and other Hendrix staples that poured from Fults' fingers and out of his amplifier.
After the impromptu exhibition, it would take two years and countless phone calls before Fults played his first major gig with Cox. Since 2006, Fults was rejected because he hadn't garnered enough fame to play with Cox. So during that time, Fults recorded a version of "Purple Haze" that he posted on MySpace to show Cox how identical his sonic signature was to that of Hendrix's. As Cox listened to the recording, he thought Hendrix was playing—until Fults' vocals came in.
It would turn out that the recording earned Fults the opportunity to play with Cox and meet other famous musicians at a September 2009 Jimi Hendrix tribute show in Indianapolis. In October 2009, Fults got the green light to play at the Musician's Hall of Fame show in Nashville, where Cox would be named as one of the newest inductees. At that time, Fults was homeless and lived out of his van. His clothes and guitars were his only possessions.
But after playing with Cox and meeting Rascal Flatts, Dick Dale and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, Fults got the inspiration he needed. Even Charlie Daniels was captivated by Fults' playing.
"He told me, ‘Son, that was some of the finest picking I've ever seen in my life,'" Fults said.
After his recent success, Cox contacted Fults last month and asked him to go on tour with the New Band of Gypsies—a proposition that will alleviate Fults' financial woes. Fults said Cox plans to make the official announcement in fall 2010.
While some tours are failing, the Experience Hendrix Tour is thriving. Out of the 20 shows in March, only six were not sold out. Now, Fults is poised to join the tour and write the next chapter in his musical career.
"I'm on stage and I'm looking back, and I see Stevie Ray Vaughn's drummer and Billy Cox playing bass. I'm thinking, ‘How did I get here? Why me?,'" he said. "I never feel like I'm not up to it, but sometimes I think, ‘How did I get here?'
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