Today is Eric Clapton’s 69th birthday. He is one of the reasons I play the guitar. I’ve been a longtime fan and admirer of his. When people ask me who are my favorite guitarists of all time are, here is my top 5: 1) Jimmy Page 2) Jimi Hendrix 3) Joe Satriani 4) Eric Clapton 5) Neil Young.

Yep, he’s definitely one of my top fives.

Someday, I’m gonna play lead guitar just as good as those guys I listed above. I’m really working on it too. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get there for 19 years now and still feel I’m not there yet. I’ve been practicing and learning. Trying to learn music theory, ear training, and techniques. My goal as a guitarist is to become a master improviser and I’m getting the hang of it, I think. Still have a lot of work to do but getting there.

While Eric Clapton is great, I wish he would go back to great blues guitar playing again like in the old days. His music lately has been taking different directions. I’ll always respect the hell out of Eric, though. He’s got a lot of haters & doubters too but I don’t care what they think. Eric is a musical genius.

Kev