Eric Clapton has announced his only North American dates for 2021. Tickets for the eight-date Southern run this September go on sale starting Friday, June 18th at 10 a.m. local time. The shows will feature Jimmie Vaughan as special guest. Clapton’s band for these shows will include Doyle Bramhall II, Paul Carrack, Nathan East, Sonny Emory, Steve Gadd, and Chris Stainton — with Sharon White and Katie Kissoon on backing vocals.
Bassist Nathan East has recorded and toured with Clapton off and on since “Slowhand's” 1986 August album. East describes his rapport with Clapton: “There's a lot of laughing that goes on and we play foosball. We're at each other's throat constantly on some level! (Laughs) but it's all a joy, and we just have a good time working together and he's just been a dear, dear friend on top of that.”
Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II has been a mainstay of Eric Clapton's live band over the years, and told us that playing with Clapton is nothing short of a joy: “It's really laid back. He lets me do whatever I want to do, and if I can add something to the song, then he just says, y'know, 'Go for it — whatever you want to do,' so it's pretty laid back. He's pretty forgiving of things that I do, and he likes things when I think, y'know, 'Was that good enough?' because (when) you're playing with someone like Eric Clapton, you want to give your best effort, and you want to be the best all the time, but he likes a lot of my ideas, and it's great.”