Eric Clapton and Guitar Friends Raise Money for Crossroads Centre

by Staff.

Eric Clapton and a star-studded list of guitar wielding friends took to the Toyota Park stage for the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert in Bridgeview, Illinois, on Saturday, July 28, to continue Clapton's ongoing effort to support The Crossroads Centre, Antigua, the drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation facility founded by Clapton in 1998 on the small Caribbean island. The Centre has also recently expanded its program to offer transitional living for men, in line with the Crossroads Centre’s philosophy on recovery, at The Sanctuary in Delray Beach, Florida, for those who have completed a residential treatment program. Profits from Saturday's concert are earmarked to benefit The Crossroads Centre.

Supporting the Crossroads Centre has been a team effort. Though spearheaded by Clapton, many companies and individuals have also contributed serious levels of support. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, with whom Clapton has had a long association, created a limited edition Crossroads Antigua Stratocaster, also known as the Sun Strat, which Fender is selling exclusively through its website (retailers and distributors are not involved), with all the proceeds from the sales also earmarked for The Crossroads Centre. No small undertaking by Fender. Likewise, the Guitar Center chain continues its support of Clapton and the Centre through a number of Crossroads promotional activities. Guitar fans in Chicago over the weekend had an opportunity to see three of the world's most famous electric guitars in a rare display: Eric Clapton's Blackie, Clapton's Cream-era Gibson ES-335, and Stevie Ray Vaughan's Stratocaster known as Lenny. These are three of the instruments purchased by Guitar Center at the 2004 Eric Clapton Crossroads auction in which Clapton sold a number of his guitars to raise money for the Centre. Though it's often stated in the press that Guitar Center paid $2.4 million dollars for the instruments in the charity-based auction, what's rarely mentioned is that Guitar Center was not able to claim the purchase as a charitable deduction since The Crossroads Centre is not based in the United States.

Many other companies have also shown support, such as Ernie Ball and Gibson Guitar. Gibson has pledged to make a generous cash donation to the Crossroads Centre and was involved in the Crossroads Guitar Festival Village on Saturday.

And then there are the artists who disrupted summer tour plans to perform on Saturday to demonstrate their support for Clapton and The Crossroads Centre. B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Hubert Sumlin, Robbie Robertson, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray and John Mayer and a host of others took the stage yesterday and illustrated the true power of the blues.

Coming soon: Modern Guitars' 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert review and extended photo gallery.

Related Links
Review: Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert
Fender's Mike Eldred Talks about the Eric Clapton Crossroads Strat
Aaron Loesch Ready for Eric Clapton Crossroads Concert
Bill Murray, Robbie Robertson, and Johnny Winter Added to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert
Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival Announces Festival Village
2007 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Website
MSN Music Crossroads Concert Webcast
Eric Clapton Announces 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival to Be Held in Chicago
Fender Creates Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocasters and Amps
John Mayer and Eric Clapton Introduce the Sun Strat Guitar
Hail, Hail, the New Guitar Center King of the Blues Is Crowned
Coronation Countdown: Guitar Center's King of the Blues Competition
King of the Blues Finalist Zack Wiesinger Opens for Steve Vai
Guitar Center King of the Blues Website

Quick Photo Gallery

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