CLAPTON

I am going to help Eric Clapton, extra-very-famous guitarist, come to an epiphany, right here, right now.

From Rolling Stone, June 11, 2009:

RS: You're in an interesting phase in your career. What's driving all these recent collaborations (note: BB King, JJ Cale, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Cream)?

EC: Believe it or not, at the age of 64, I still haven't made what I consider to be my best album or found the best live repertoire. I'm still scraping away to find the deep inner me, and it still seems like I'm a long way off.

RS: Do any of the young blues-rock bands -- the White Stripes, the Black Keys -- resonate with you at all?

EC: I think it's OK, but you could probably know what I like by what I've got on my iPod, and that stuff isn't there. I've seen 'em, I respect it, and I have no objection, but it doesn't move me. I'm not motivated by looking for new things in the younger generation -- that's never been my MO. I've always looked for the older guys. That's where I think the value is.

OK, Eric.

You are still trying to do your best work. That is very admirable. It also must be really frustrating, because I swear you have not changed your style nor learned a new lick in 40 years. If all you want to do is keep mining the past, and it isn't really making you feel creatively fulfilled after this long, how about SOMETHING A MITE FRESHER? What if the "deep inner" you is actually found in the present, or future? HMM? To dismiss music past those cats of your generation and even older is incredibly limited and limits you as a musician.

The best and most interesting musicians I can think of are those who love and appreciate and incorporate the best music from all times and styles. It might take some real effort to open your mind and musical heart further, but the payoff could be exactly what you have been looking for all this time.

Do I really think this will happen? Of course not. But wouldn't it be cool if it did?

And how about rocking out the clothes a bit while you are at it? You look like an accountant. A successful accountant, but still. Kiss kiss.