CROSSROADS Guitar Festival’s GREATEST Performances

Do you know about Crossroads? It’s a festival experience created by Eric Clapton, named after and for the benefit of his Crossroads Foundation, and it routinely attracts the greatest and most talented artists in popular mainstream rock and blues. Usually a two night affair, Crossroads sees Clappo performing on both nights, aided and abetted by a band of revolving members, the calibre of which would make your head spin!

This year (and it does not occur yearly), the Festival takes place at the Moody Centre in Austin, Texas. It’s happening in a few days (September 26-27) and if you’re going then I am jealous. To counter this, I’m going to console myself by watching a bunch of the greatest performances from past Crossroads festivals, and in my own spirit of charity, I’m going to share them right there with you!

Check out these amazing, historical performances, crank up your computer/telly/phone and play along with Eric and pals, why don’t you?

The Crossroads Foundation is a charitable retreat in Antigua for those with addiction problems. Based on the 12-step program, the Crossroads Foundation aims to help people battle and break their addictions, surrounded by significant others, in the peaceful and idyllic locale of Antigua.

Antigua is a Caribbean island with literally 365 beaches, and sunshine for each. For those struggling with chemical and substance addictions, it’s a break, a relief and a helping hand to fight back and gain control. Clapton has been there himself, and knows how important recovery and coping mechanisms are. The Crossroads Guitar Festival helps generate funds to keep the centre open and able to help those in need. In return, attendees get to see musical performances that literally happen nowhere else in the world.

Let’s check out some!

Players: Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Derek Trucks

This wonderful performance is so smooth and chill, and yet it’s a total powerhouse. Steve Winwood’s lead vocals are awesome, Eric’s on a white Strat that looks very much like the famous Mary Kaye Strat, and a young Derek Trucks is doing that which he was put on earth to do: namely, play some blissful slide guitar on a red Gibson SG.

This evocative tune is a great starter for us, as it puts us in the right vibe of spirited, tasteful, mindful music. It’s almost like a Blind Faith reunion!

Players: Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson

The Band supremo Robbie Robertson joins his old pal Eric for an excellent rendition of Who Do You Love, with each man taking turns on lead vocals before joining for a gloriously harmonic set of choruses.

Clapton appears to be on one of his signature Strats, and it looks black but I want to say it’s the Pewter one? Robbie’s guitar is altogether less straightforward, but in the coolest way! What seems from a distance to be a pretty bread ‘n’ butter Sunburst Strat becomes less so the closer the camera gets.

That finish? Sparkly and grey in the centre, before becoming amber and black? That’s a wonderful colour called ‘Moonburst’ and to my knowledge, it is only used on this guitar! It’s a custom shop creation, built for Robbie by Todd Krause, and has that same unusual pickup layout to the amazing Last Waltz Strat. Three single coil pickups, but the middle one is pushed up next to the bridge pickup. Not a humbucker, then! Although, the magnetic field will be different, so it may be a quieter sound than standard single coils.

Anyway, I want to see this one re-issued!

Players: Eric, John Mayer, Doyle Bramhall II

Controversial comment here: is it just me or are Clapton and Mayer the 2nd and 3rd best guitarists in this performance? Hey! Put that down! It was just an opinion!

Okay, everybody sounds great on this track - and I love how the crowd go wild the second they recognise the riff - but Doyle Bramhall II is the guy who kept grabbing my attention as I watched. Maybe it was the hat? Either way, there’s so much great playing on this track that you could study it for days. Mayer is on a grey Silver Sky, Clapton’s on one of his paint graphic Strats made for auctioning, and Bramhall plays a Collings hollowbody for both standard and slide playing. It’s impressive stuff!

Players: EC, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Peter Stroud

This is one silly-talented lineup here! 2007 was obviously a bit of a special event, because that’s THREE times I’ve referenced it already!

For Tulsa Time, Sheryl’s on lead vocals of course, because she’s a spectacular singer, and also strums a Tele. Albert Lee does his inimitable thing on a red Music Man Albert Lee signature, Eric’s on a ‘Blackie’ artist series Strat and Vince Gill absolutely tears it up on his flametop Tele, playing slide over the top of the neck, and with thumb and fingerpicks. It’s a thrilling way to attack a guitar for sure!

Players: Steve Vai, Tony McAlpine, Billy Sheehan, Dave Weiner

Now, this is a bit of a left turn from those previous performances, and in its own way it’s maybe the most amazing of them all. Strictly no Strats and no blues here,folks! Blistering, crazy madness here instead, from what is basically Steve Vai and his touring band. That maybe explains why they are so supernaturally tight as a unit: they are a well-drilled unit! 

When Vai’s keyboard player (the great Tony McAlpine) can out-guitar most guitarists, you know you’re in rare company.

The real take away here for me is how on-point Vai’s rhythm playing is! Check him out at 4m 07. But then, why should that surprise me? Steve’s on his favourite Ibanez JEM guitar nicknamed EVO; Tony looks like he’s playing a Carvin (I could be wrong), Sheehan’s spanking his signature Yamaha bass and Weiner has an Ibanez J-Custom RG 7-string.

Players: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Doyle Bramhall II

Now, if there is one guitarist whom I believe we can all collectively agree is the best choice to end this article on, it’s got to be Jeff Beck. Who doesn’t love and appreciate his incredible touch? His sound? His fun attitude and expressiveness?

There’s a reason everyone else in today’s blog looked up to Jeff Beck, and I hope it’s clear from this performance. The volume knob violin sounds, the whammy bar stuff, the pickles playing…does it not all just want you to grab your guitar and get playing? Beck always does that for me, and I guess that’s his big gift: inspiration by way of example. He’s so unique but so relatable.

It's a White Jeff Beck Artist Series Stratocaster here, with his pal Eric supporting until it’s time to take a solo. Clapton has to pull out all the stops here to match Jeff, and it’s a facemelter of a solo. Doyle’s back - the guy who impressed me earlier - and he holds his own too, with some great phrasing and a lovely bit of noise. 

But I mean, imagine even going onstage to play with Clapton and Beck? That’s some bravery right there!

I keep finding more and more great performances from all of the Crossroads Festivals. There's Susan Tedeschi! There’s Carlos! I give up, folks. I’m gonna have to do a volume two at some point…maybe after this year’s festival! In the meantime, it’s a lovely thing that these incredible talents have all come together to share their music, have fun, inspire and make a stack of money for a good cause.

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