Eric Patrick Clapton was born in the year 1945 in Ripley, a small village in the county of Surrey, England.  He lived a unique childhood, believing his maternal grandmother and her second husband were actually his parents and his mother was an older sister.  Eric’s father was a Canadian soldier who was drafted before he was born and returned to Canada after World War II.

Eric was interested in the guitar as an early teenager and after a second try at the age of 15, it consumed most of his waking hours, including time normally spent in school.  He was influenced by blues artists  Muddy Waters, Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy and Hubert Sumlin, but to quote Eric, “Robert Johnson, to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived.”

Eric played around Surrey with the likes of The Roosters and Casey Jones & The Engineers, but in October of 1963, he joined The Yardbirds and the rest is truly Rock & Roll history.  He later performed with John Mayall and the The Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, finally heading up Derek & The Dominos.  After that, his solo career became legendary. Eric is still one of the most respected guitarist/singer/songwriters in the world.  Could the infamous graffito “Clapton is God” be true?

CLAPTONATION is certainly a tribute to this artist’s greatness, but the primary objective is to historically showcase the music he created both in a solo format and while collaborating with others.  CLAPTONATION uses no prerecorded music while performing.  The aim is to deliver not only the structure, but the spontaneity and emotion that is the musical legacy of Eric Patrick Clapton.