Eric Clapton and Billy Murray at the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

It looks like Eric Clapton and the gang are gearing up for the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden in New York. According to an article in the New York Times, the festival started out in Dallas, TX in 2004, then in 2007 and 2010 was held in Bridgeview, IL near Chicago. Next year it looks like the festival is renting out Madison Square Garden in Manhattan next year for an all-star lineup. Many of the usual performers will be present including Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, B.B. King and Buddy Guy, but I guarantee there are going to be many more great blues artists featured as well. I probably won’t be able to make to the show, but those of you out near New York, maybe this is your shot to attend the Crossroads Guitar Festival!

What’s better than Eric Clapton and his band playing “Crossroads” for a post about the Crossroads Guitar Festival? Here’s a little taste of the show at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-72DTZjgQ4.

[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/V-72DTZjgQ4″ height=”420″ rel=”0″]

I wrote about an article from the New York Times advertising the new location for the Crossroads Guitar Festival. If you want to read it as well, check it out at http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/eric-clapton-to-bring-guitar-festival-to-madison-square-garden/.

The lineup is a dream for lovers of blues and blues-rock, with its emotional, spiraling guitar solos. Albert Lee, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan and Gary Clark Jr. are among the blues guitarists on the bill. The two concerts will also feature the Allman Brothers Band, Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Jonny Lang, Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal. Several country artists are in the mix as well: Vince Gill, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. Not all the artists will perform both nights, promoters said.

This is the fourth time Mr. Clapton, who first rose to prominence as a blues and rock guitarist in the Yardbirds and in Cream in the 1960s, has issued a call to his friends for the Crossroads Guitar Festival, to raise money for the drug rehab center, which treats addicts in Antigua as well as those from all over the world.

I bet most of you are already familiar with the Crossroads Guitar Festival. The footage from the shows is top notch, so I encourage you to surf the Internet a little bit for some pretty stellar performances.

Thanks,

Griff


    6 replies to "Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival Is Going To New York"

    • シャネル 財布

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    • Gerry

      I bought my tickets the day they went on sale … can hardly wait … even my wife is excited about going and she’s not a blues lover … but with Vince Gill, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley on the bill she’s thrilled .. EC was my inspiration to get to learning/playing … that and Griff’s Ultimate Blues Guitar course

    • Donny Dunders

      Eric’s wild, exciting and wondrous guitar work on ‘Crossroads’ recorded live on ‘Wheels of Fire’ remains at the top of my lists of favorites! The blaze of notes keeps elevating and every time you think you have heard it all, it leaps up further to a level rarely heard and more rarely caught on regard. To this day, all these years later, whenever it comes on the radio I must stop, turn it up, and try to follow the trail of notes like a bobsled racing on the edge but never veering off the track. Locked in an amazing groove captured FOREVER. Always exactly the same, always exactly perfect in its imperfection, always one breath away from catastrophe yet always breathless! To me, this track along with Eric’s work on the Bluesbreakers album remains his premier work. …and did I forget to mention Fresh Cream, Five Live Yardbirds, and Disraeli Gears? …and what about his solo on WMGGWeeps? Hey, don’t listen to me, I think I lost my mind over the sound of any guitar, acoustic or electric, played with feeling! We all can be great for one moment when playing our guitars…I still hope!

    • Richard Mayer

      In the early-mid 60s’ a TV show called, “Hot Dog” showed how things were manufactured. Machinery would whirr, cameras followed the processes and, all accompanied by jams by The Yardbirds. That was my intro to EC. It was a saturday morning, “Must” and, wish those old videos were available today. I knew I was hearing something unique then, and it stayed in my blood to my 71 years of today.

    • Doug

      Great video, EC was a major influence for me to want to play guitar back in the 70’s. Man still has it!

    • James Westland

      This is one of my favourite YouTube videos – the performance of this classic is stellar. What a line up on stage there as well.Thanks for highlighting this video and the whole Crossroads festival. It sounds brilliant!

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