# Dez Dickerson on Prince, Hendrix, Faith, Talk Radio and Modern Rock :: Ep 35 Circling the Drain Podcast Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/circling-the-drain-7467223/dez-dickerson-on-prince-hendrix-faith-talk-radio-and-modern-rock-ep-35-circling-the-drain-podcast Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/circling-the-drain-7467223/dez-dickerson-on-prince-hendrix-faith-talk-radio-and-modern-rock-ep-35-circling-the-drain-podcast.md Podcast: [Circling The Drain](https://stenobird.com/podcast/circling-the-drain-7467223) Published: 2026-04-22T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/d19b3fc9 Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/d19b3fc9/b0b10de7.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/circling-the-drain-7467223/episodes/dez-dickerson-on-prince-hendrix-faith-talk-radio-and-modern-rock-ep-35-circling-the-drain-podcast Duration seconds: 3964 ## Resource On this episode of Circling The Drain, Johnny B, Jay Harper and James Patrick McCarthy sit down with guitarist and broadcaster Dez Dickerson – best known as Prince’s original guitarist from the 1999 and Little Red Corvette era. Dez takes us from his early days in Midwestern cover bands to his legendary audition with Prince, life on the road, opening for the Rolling Stones, his faith journey, leaving the band just as they were about to headline stadiums, and his unexpected path into conservative talk radio. Along the way, the guys dive deep into Jimi Hendrix’s legacy, the darker side of the music business, the opioid epidemic and fentanyl, and why modern rock rarely hits as hard as it used to. What you’ll hear in this episode: - Dez’s wild origin story, starting professional gigs at 14 without even a driver’s license - The real story behind his Prince audition and how “having the vibe” got him the gig - Inside the infamous Rolling Stones opening shows and how Hells Angels changed the narrative - Why he walked away from Prince’s band at the brink of stadium-headliner status - Dez’s conversion to Christianity on the Dirty Mind tour and how it reshaped his choices - Moving to Nashville, discovering the Christian music business and landing an A&R role - How Phil Valentine pushed him toward talk radio – and why the mic felt like home - His unapologetically conservative views, pushback he’s gotten, and “clear thinker” philosophy - Guitar talk: Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Santana, bikers, death metal, and why no one is truly “original” - Dez’s thoughts on today’s rock, podcasts vs radio, and what he wants to do next Hit play for a fast, funny, honest conversation about music, faith, politics and life from someone who’s actually been there, on stage and on the air. Listen, su… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/circling-the-drain-7467223/episodes/dez-dickerson-on-prince-hendrix-faith-talk-radio-and-modern-rock-ep-35-circling-the-drain-podcast/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/circling-the-drain-7467223/dez-dickerson-on-prince-hendrix-faith-talk-radio-and-modern-rock-ep-35-circling-the-drain-podcast.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.