The Village

All photos courtesy of Jarrod Vrazel, ZRock.com, 2007.

A Festival Village filled with interactive guitar exhibits, hands-on demonstrations and historic guitars on display for fans! Anyone with a ticket to the Crossroads Guitar Festival had access to the Village. The Festival Village opened at 9:00 AM, when Festival gates opened and entertained fans all day long. The Village provided clinics for wanna-be guitar gods on a Village stage.

In a rare historic showing, three of the world’s most infamous originals – Eric Clapton’s "Blackie" and "335" guitars and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s "Lenny" were showcased.  In addition, fans got the first glimpse of the brand-new limited edition "Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster".

Crossroads Centre, Antigua, had a tent in the Village so fans could better understand this important charity.

To honor the philanthropic efforts of Eric Clapton, Fender® collaborated with Eric to create a limited edition set of guitars and amps - the Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster® and Crossroads ’57 Twin-Amps™. The project will be on display in the Guitar Village along with interactive instrument set-ups of Crossroads artists including Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Jimmie Vaughan and Buddy Guy, allowing fans to play like the pros for the ultimate hands-on guitar experience.

Artists Performing in the Village

Orianthi
“It’s not cute any more. It’s seriously ass-whupping. If I was going to pass the baton to some-body, she would be my first choice.” – Carlos Santana.
The audaciously talented guitarist is Orianthi, from Adelaide, Australia, whose debut album is likely to bring audiences to the same conclusion reached by masterguitarist Santana.
Complete Biography

Harvey Mandel
Blues-rock-psychedelic-metal-jazz-country-roots-fusion or let's just call it Harvey Mandel music! Harvey Mandel, "The King Of Sustain", has been cited as a major influence by many of today's music superstars.
Complete Biography

Jedd Hughes
Jedd moved to Nashville, and in a very short time earned the respect of Nashville’s elite.  His list of admirers is long – and reads like a “Who’s Who” of country music. The songwriter and accomplished guitar player is beloved by such respected artists as Keith Urban, Rodney Crowell, Alison Krauss, Guy Clark and Patty Loveless.
Complete Biography

Pete Huttlinger
Huttlinger has been featured in cover articles and profiles for Fingerstyle Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Guitar Player and Acoustic Guitar . He has created for Homespun Records & Tapes such bestselling instructional videos as The Guitar of John Denver: Taught by Pete Huttlinger and Learn To Play The Songs Of Jim Croce.
Complete Biography

Tab Benoit and Louisiana Leroux
2006 Grammy Nominee, Louisiana Wetlands Activist, Cajun Roots Musician Tab Benoit won the 2006 Blues Music Association’s “B.B. King’s Entertainer of the Year” and “Best Male Contemporary Blues” awards.
Complete Biography

Jeff Baxter
Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter was a founding member of the group Steely Dan, a member of the Doobie Brothers and record producer.  He has toured with such bands as The Stray Cats, Elton John, Julian Lennon and Linda Ronstadt.  He has been a studio musician for 35 years and has composed music for movies and television.
Complete Biography

Todd Wolfe
As former lead guitarist for Grammy-winner Sheryl Crow from 1993 until 1998, Todd Wolfe has toured the world with the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Bob Dylan, Elton John, and Page & Plant among others.
Complete Biography

Guitar Center are proud to continue the history of support it has had for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival this year following its huge success in 2004. We are excited about bringing three of rock's most infamous guitars- "Blackie," "335" and "Lenny" - to Crossroads to kick off a traveling display for all music fans to enjoy at their local Guitar Centers. We are proud to co-sponsor the Village Stage and to showcase the 2007 Guitar Center King of the Blues winner, Aaron Loesch, who will have the once in a lifetime experience to showcase his talents with the amazing lineup of artists on the main stage.

DigiTech a leader in guitar signal processing, is showcasing their new marketing tool, the DigiTruck, at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. After long planning and lots of hardwork, DigiTech has completed this self contained rolling monster to spread the word of DigiTech and all other Harman products including dbx, Lexicon, BSS, Crown, Soundcraft, JBL and AKG. The DigiTruck contains a controlled environment product room, lounge and more that needs to be seen.

Gibson are proud to support this year's Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival. We are dedicated to providing a high quality music experience for musicians worldwide. Gibson are thrilled to be part of such a premiere guitar event with a whose who of the world's greatest guitar players and aspiring newcomers. We are gratified to support Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua through our donations to this worthy charitable event and look forward to creating memorable experiences for music fans at our Gibson Guitar tent.

Limelight is the premiere gallery for representing the most talented artists in rock & roll today. In addition to Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, Limelight is proud to represent the Estate of Jimi Hendrix and the unique creative genius of artist Sebastian Kruger.

Rolling Stone Authentic is proud to support the Crossroads 2007 Guitar Festival. We produce a wide range of products that feature the artwork of Rolling Stone magazine’s 40-year archive of 1000+ legendary covers, including fine art prints, posters, calendars and more. Rock and Roll fans can see these amazing covers in the Crossroads Musician’s Village and online at www.crossroads-rsa.com, and Rolling Stone Authentic will be making a donation to the Crossroads Centre for each subsequent purchase made through this web link.

Continuing their long-standing tradition of providing opportunities for musicians to play live and fulfill their dreams, Ernie Ball has made it possible for one band to have the opportunity to play live at the 2007 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival via Uploading of bands’ best MP3's at www.playcrossroads.com.

The chance to win was made available to all musicians with the winner performing on the Village Stage!