Gary Clark Jr. has revealed what Eric Clapton said to him when the pair spontaneously crossed paths at a show – and although the bluesman isn't entirely sure what Slowhand meant by his words, Joe Satriani has assured him they were offered as praise.
The acclaimed blues rock electric guitar titan is one of his generation’s finest players, and last year he was positioned alongside Van Halen and Carlos Santana on Guitar Center Hollywood’s Rockwalk in a recognition of his dazzling talents.
He’s now recalled his random Clapton conversation via a new Instagram post, which also shows him playing Storyville’s Good Day for the Blues on a Bigsby-loaded ES-335 – his crystal clear licks wading through a sea of warming reverb.
“A man approached me while I was getting settled to play a show,” he recalls. “He had a big smile on his face while he said to me ‘Man, you’re like the king of reverb!’ In hindsight, I’m pretty sure that statement was not meant to be a compliment but was meant to be more of a subtle suggestion. That man was Eric Clapton.”
While the guitarist may see Slowhand's comment in such a light, Joe Satriani – who commented on the post – was quick to offer his own interpretation of the exchange.
“What E.C.meant,” he wrote, “was, ‘You're amazing. You lift people up, make them think, make them smile, so, don't ever stop being yourself.’ I'm pretty sure that's what he meant.”
It’s unclear when this conversation took place, but by the sounds of it, it was one of the pair's earliest meetings.
Though the blues is the beating heart of Gary Clark Jr.'s sound, and the main ingredient in his sizzling guitar solos, the Austin musician is something of a genre polymath. As his career has progressed, soul, R&B, and hip-hop are just some of the extra spices he's weaved into his music, helping him score an impressive four Grammy wins from six nominations. His LP, This Land, helped him to a trio of those wins.
Today, Clark Jr.'s stock could hardly be higher. But when he was cutting his teeth during his early club gigs, he was often mocked for his leftfield gear choices.
“I got made fun of because I walked in proud with an Ibanez Blazer and a solid-state Crate amp,” he recalls. “I was showing up to blues clubs with that, and they were like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ But, you know, at a certain point you can’t please everybody.”
It’s a move that echoes how Cecil Alexander was received for playing bebop on a Jackson Soloist at jazz clubs. Impressively, he’s made it sound like a big-body guitar and has revealed his secrets to Guitar World.
Last month Clark Jr. donned a Stratocaster for a sterling set of Stevie Ray Vaughan classics at Austin City Limits' 50th Anniversary televised special. He dished out SRV's sophisticated licks with fellow blues guitarist Eve Monsees – and it proved to be a full-circle moment for the guitarist, who watched his guitar hero on the show as a kid.
Clapton, meanwhile, has given more on-the-nose praise to a Japanese neo-soul player and has name-dropped an unlikely contender as his favorite contemporary guitarist.
