Eric Clapton tribute show set for April 5

Article content

While one of the best-selling guitarists and singers of all time will not be coming to Stratford next month, his music will be.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Dylan Wickens and his bandmates will be performing a tribute show to the legendary English artist, Eric Clapton, at the Revival House on April 5.

“He’s widely regarded by musicians worldwide as, you know, one of the greatest living guitar players on Earth,” Wickens said of Clapton.

Clapton, who has been a part of several celebrated bands in his career, including the Yardbirds, Cream and Derek and the Dominos, ranks number 19 on chartmasters.org’s all-time list of best-selling musicians, just behind the Eagles and ahead of bands like Metallica and ABAA. His 1992 album Unplugged sold more than 26-million copies alone.

Although Clapton might not be as well known to people younger than 40, his more than five decades in the industry, along with his ability to play multiple different genres, make him the ideal person to tribute, Wickens said.

Article content

“He’s been identified as a blues artist (but), at other phases, he’s been a rock musician. He’s dabbled in folk. He’s dabbled in jazz. He’s worked with everybody from John Mayer to Wynton Marsalis, so he’s a generational player and he crosses all genres. I imagine he’s done that over the course of his career to keep himself relevant. And so, you know, we just have a real appreciation for that,” Wickens said.

The Stratford performance will cover all periods of Clapton’s career, including both his group and solo work. Wickens, a multi-award winner in his own right, will be joined by six other successful musicians, including Stratford local Cassius Pereira, Jack Pender, Ryan Allen, Nick Barkley, Christina Leroux and Cheryl Lescom.

Article content

While playing with this many people can be a challenge, this biggest obstacle for this combo is finding a time for rehearsal, given that each of the artists have other projects, Wickens said.

“We come together to do this because everybody in the band just really loves Eric Clapton’s work. There’s a lot of work on the back end to putting together a production like this, but, you know, it’s a labour of love. Everybody in it is in it because they want to be in it,” said Wickens, who currently plays guitar for the Johnny Max band.

Although covering Clapton’s work can be a a bit nerve-racking, given his stature as an artist, it’s also really fun, Wickens said.

“You don’t put on an Eric Clapton show unless you’re really going to put the time in to learn the music and absorb his playing style. It’s like, somebody doesn’t go and covers Jimi Hendrix unless they can really, really pull that off,” he said.

Doors for Just One Night . . . A Celebration of the Timeless Music of Slowhand open at 7 p.m. on April 5 while the performance beings at 8 p.m. Tickets for the age-of-majority show are $30 and can be purchased online at ticketscene.ca. 

watwood@postmedia.com

Article content