Guitarist woke up neighbourhood with with early morning rooftop renditions of Jimi Hendrix songs

The residents of Beaufort Terrace in Ebbw Vale, Wales, could have been forgiven for thinking Jimi Hendrix had come back from beyond the grave when they were awoken at 8am by the distinctive strains of Hey Joe and Voodoo Chile.



They probably couldn’t believe their eyes as well as their ears when they looked out of their windows and saw their neighbour, 52-year-old Kenn Barnes performing Hendrix classics on his roof. The guitarist, who plays in a band called NRG and has been playing guitar for more than 30 years, said he did it for a bet.





“I had scaffolding put up outside my house so I could fix my leaking chimney,” he said. “My mate Martin Whitcombe suggested that I do a Brian May when he played on the roof of Buckingham Palace and play on the roof decking. I toyed with the idea for a week or so and on Saturday the scaffolding was due to come down and Martin was still saying - ‘you will only get one chance.’


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“So Saturday morning at 7am, I took my guitar amp and guitar up the scaffold and at 8am, I started playing a mix of Hendrix songs - Voodoo Chile and Hey Joe, much to the amusement of the neighbours.” And instead of being livid at their rock ’n’ roll wake-up call, Kenn’s neighbours appear to have been amused at his unorthodox rock theatrics. “They seem to have forgiven me for waking them. I just wish I had done it for charity but it was an impulsive, last minute thing.”