The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007, 2010, and 2013.
The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua.
The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of guitarists.
All were hand-picked by Eric Clapton himself, who addressed the 2007 audience, saying that each were some of the very best, and those who had earned his respect.
The most recent festival was held on April 12–13, 2013, at Madison Square Garden
Eric Clapton would join and play with various performers, and there were many other one-off collaborations that took place during the show. In order of appearance, the performers on the main stage were:
Bill Murray
Sonny Landreth
John McLaughlin
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
Doyle Bramhall II
The Derek Trucks Band joined by Susan Tedeschi and Johnny Winter
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
The Robert Cray Band joined by Jimmie Vaughan, Hubert Sumlin, and B. B. King
Aaron Loesch (winner of Guitar Center’s 2007 King of the Blues contest)
John Mayer
Vince Gill joined by Albert Lee, Sheryl Crow, Peter Stroud and Willie Nelson
Los Lobos
Jeff Beck^ with Tal Wilkenfeld, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Jason Rebello
Eric Clapton joined by Robbie Robertson and Steve Winwood
Buddy Guy
Finale featuring Buddy Guy with Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, John Mayer, Hubert Sumlin, Johnny Winter, and Jimmie Vaughan
artists who also performed at the 2004 festival. Names in bold were given star billing in advertisements.
On the second stage at the Festival Village, performers included:
Orianthi
Harvey Mandel
Jedd Hughes
Pete Huttlinger
Tab Benoit and Louisiana’s LeRoux
Jeff Baxter
Todd Wolfe
Tyler Bryant
(Wikipedia)