News
The Eric Clapton Crossroads 25th Anniversary Auction Preview
22 Nov 23
On November 21, Heritage Auctions opened the doors of its New York showroom to the press and public to preview the items in The Eric Clapton Crossroads 25th Anniversary Auction. The items will go under the hammer on December 8 in Dallas and all proceeds will benefit Crossroads Centre Antigua.
On hand to speak to the press and public were Nicos Peraticos, Chief Executive Officer, and Samantha Quinlan, Marketing and Development Officer of Crossroads Centre Antigua and New York based graffiti artist John “Crash” Matos who has painted and designed several guitars for Eric Clapton over the years. Two are featured in the auction.
Highlights will be on public preview in Heritage’s New York City offices at 445 Park Avenue from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ET on November 21-22 and November 27-30. They will also be on display by appointment only at Heritage’s world headquarters in Dallas at 2801 W. Airport Freeway from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. December 4-8. For those who cannot make it to either location, all items in the auction can be viewed here.
In the auction catalog, Eric wrote about why the auction is important. “As those of you who attended the recent Crossroads Guitar Festival in Los Angeles will know, it is now 25 years since the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the beneficiary of this Auction, opened its doors, since when it has been able to help several thousand men and women needing help with their addictions, including numerous people from the Caribbean where little help was previously available to them.
Crossroads continues to flourish, but it always needs funds to subsidise help for those who could not otherwise afford help, and also to assist through educational programmes reaching out to schools, and through social media, to alert the young and old to the dangers of alcohol and drugs.”
In a recent conversation with Where’s Eric!, Crossroads CEO Nicos Peraticos explained the Centre’s work and the balance between local people and more international clients, “We admit local people into treatment with full scholarship at Crossroads and our “half-way house” completely free of charge, and offer 4 months of pretty intensive treatment. We have helped nearly 700 people from Antigua in our 25 years. Part of my role is to travel and to remind people that Crossroads is the best treatment centre in the world. And one of the reasons for that is because of Eric and the Board. Money is not their main focus, recovery is. We are not a profit-making treatment centre, we are a charity, we give away treatment which is part of the recovery mentality; to keep what I have, I have to give it away.”
Among the items in the auction are signature models and other personal guitars from Eric, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Carlos Santana, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Vince Gill, John McLaughlin, Albert Lee, Steve Vai and others who have performed during Crossroads’ historic run, which began in 1999. Many others were donated by friends of Clapton’s who want to help continue the good work done by the Crossroads Centre.
One of the auction’s highlights is Eric’s 2019 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster, a singular instrument built by renowned Custom Shop luthier Todd Krause and hand-painted by John “Crash” Matos. Eric played this guitar on stage at the American Airlines Center in Dallas during Crossroads 2019 while collaborating with John Mayer (on Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla”) and Peter Frampton (during the George Harrison tribute “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”) and honoring Prince with “Purple Rain.”
Also available in this auction is another Fender Custom Shop beauty, the Metallic Blue Stratocaster that Eric played throughout the 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles this past September. Signed and dated by Eric, this guitar was also built by Krause.
Additional centerpiece offerings include three very special instruments signed by Eric and multiple artists who performed at this year’s fest, including the “Blackie” Stratocaster built by the Fender Custom Shop in December 2007 to commemorate that year’s festival in Chicago. This limited-edition guitar features the sunshine logo Eric drew for Crossroads Centre Antigua. This coveted guitar trio also includes a Gibson 70th Anniversary Les Paul and a Martin LX1 Natural Acoustic.
All three guitars are signed by the guitar legend and more than three dozen Crossroads 2023 artists, among them: Sheryl Crow, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Stephen Stills, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Gary Clark Jr., Jakob Dylan, the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, H.E.R., Jimmie Vaughan, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph, Albert Lee, Sonny Landreth, Marcus King, Pedro Martins, Daniel Santiago and a cast of many more all-stars.
Other highlights of the auction include a Marshall 1962 model Bluesbreakers replica amp re-screened with the Crossroads 2023 Crash graphics, signed by Eric and fellow Bluesbreaker John Mayall; Vince Gill’s handwritten and signed lyrics for his first country chart-topper “I Still Believe in You”; and a one-of-a-kind 2019 Gibson “Flower Power” Master Artisan Collection Les Paul, which was custom-built, hand-carved and spirit-varnished by The Gibson Custom Shop and Master Artisan Rickie Hinrichsen, who began building this guitar at his luthier’s bench in the backstage Gibson Artist’s Lounge at Crossroads 2019 in Dallas.
In addition, there is a “Blues Breakers – John Mayall with Eric Clapton” vinyl record autographed by both John and Eric, several vinyl box sets autographed by Eric including the “Crossroads 2019,” and “The Definitive 24 Nights” as well as Eric-signed lyrics to “Change The World,” “Let It Rain,” and “Presence Of The Lord.” There are even more items and too many more items donated by generous artists and individuals to mention
The auction, happens at Heritage Auctions’ Dallas, Texas headquarters on Friday, December 8 from 6PM CT. Bids can be placed live on the floor or by telephone, HERITAGELive!®, internet, fax, and mail.
CLICK HERE to view the online auction catalog
CLICK HERE for auction bidding information, including how to register
CLICK HERE for directions to Heritage Auction’s New York Showroom
CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery from the preview in New York City
CLICK HERE to learn more about the work of Crossroads Centre Antigua