Eric Clapton

Sometimes the line between life and art becomes blurred; it is often in those times that something greater and farther reaching than either the individual life or artwork can emerge. Such is the case with guitarist Eric Clapton's work with and for the Crossroads Centre, Antigua.

Clapton has a long history of pouring his life into his work and using music to work through the "lemons" in his own life. He has experienced many of his life-lemons while under the constant scrutiny of the media, making deeply personal pain also profoundly public. His struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his absent father, and the death of his son Conor are among the elements of Clapton's life that have fueled his own musical evolution and have entered the collective consciousness of our time.

Eric Clapton's take on Artistic Lemonade, though, has gone far beyond the impact of a single song or album. The Crossroads Centre, Antigua grew out of Clapton's own experiences with addiction and recovery and a commitment to helping others recover in spite of geographic and socio-economic barriers. The Crossroads Centre is a non-profit organization (founded by Clapton in 1997) that provides inpatient and outpatient services to patients from the Caribbean and from around the world; they operate a halfway house exclusively for local residents and facilitates an education series in local schools.

This is where life and art meet to create something greater: the Crossroads Centre and the Crossroads Guitar Festival. In 2004 (Dallas) and 2007 (Chicago), Clapton brought together the best of the best guitarists for a celebration of life through music: a who's who of music greats joined together for one day to benefit the Crossroads Centre.

This is the ultimate spirit of Artistic Lemonade, and it goes far beyond making the best of a bad situation. It is about building on the artist's own experiences, growing through the chosen art form, and then creating something that goes farther -- bringing light into the lives of countless others. The music of the Crossroads Guitar Festival and the families of the Crossroads Centre show that that is exactly what Mr. Clapton has accomplished.

• Crossroads Guitar Festival
• Crossroads Centre, Antigua
• Visit the Official Eric Clapton Website
• Then see the Unofficial Eric Clapton Website
• Ridiculous Clapton rumors debunked at Snopes.com
• Clapton's department at the Artistic Lemonade Store

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Yummifruitbat
(Creative Commons License)

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