'These guitars have been really good tools; they're not just museum pieces. They all have a soul and they all come alive.' - Eric Clapton 'In his own words, Clapton tells his story through the history of his instruments.' - Rolling Stone In Six-String Stories Eric Clapton reflects on a legendary career as told through the tools of his trade: his guitars. Collected together here for the first time are the instruments Clapton sold in three record-breaking auctions between 1999 and 2011 to benefit the Crossroads treatment centre he founded in 1998. Featuring some of the most iconic guitars ever played, Clapton guides the reader through nearly 300 instruments as he discusses their provenance, reveals insights about his own playing, and shares anecdotes from each chapter of his spectacular life in music. 'One by one these guitars were the chapters of my life. They belong to a very well-loved family.' - Eric Clapton Six-String Stories presents a 'family tree' that makes connections between iconic instruments, such as Clapton's famous 'Blackie' Stratocaster, and previously unknown rarities, placing them in the chronology of his career. Clapton recalls the instruments he bought to emulate his heroes, the guitars with unknown origins that became their own legend, the ones that never left his side, and the legacy they left behind. Every piece has been individually photographed, revealing every curve, detail and scratch, while the work of over 80 of the world's best rock photographers shows the instruments in play. See Clapton's evolution from the psychedelic Sixties, through the stripped-back Seventies, electric Eighties, and unplugged Nineties, right up to the sale of the last guitar. 'As an avid rock or blues fan, I would look at all the pictures in this book.' - Eric Clapton Historical and technical information for each piece in the collection - including playlists and concert dates for those instruments used on records and at public appearances - completes the story behind each guitar. 'The guitars are things of great beauty.' - Eric Clapton

Calling all kids and adults too! A fun, interactive, fantastical musical journey created by Metro Detroit based musician Ms. Paula. Readers will travel to outer space, dance with dinosaurs, drive monster trucks, learn how to make pizza, play Simon Says, and birthday celebrations.Eight songs which are illustrated story book style. Sheet music included. Geared towards younger kids, kids of all ages, and guitar students.

I've been reading, writing and collecting stories about guitars and guitar players pretty much all my life. Some years ago, I put some of my favourites into a little book for the interest and amusement of my musician friends, but the collection has continued to grow and I thought an update was long overdue. If it's made me aware of one thing, it is that a book like this can never truly be finished. Not only is new material surfacing all the time but whilst most guitar players love nothing better than to talk about their music, other guitarists and their passion for the instrument, there are a few notable exceptions and hence some surprising omissions which it would take another volume and a lot more research to rectifySome of what follows may be familiar, most I hope will amuse and some facts I'm pretty sure will surprise.MAMNovember 2017

Xavier is a prodigy of sorts. He is a part of a family that for four generations has been members of a mariachi band. His great grandfather began the love for the music when he decided to craft his own six string bass guitar. When Xavier was born, he was instantly attracted to watching his great grandfather work in his wood shop and at the age of two his made him a mini two string guitar that forever changed his life and became his best friend. But the music is more than a passion it is a core piece of this family. Xavier's mother was a superwoman who stayed home and cared for the four children while his father led the mariachi band. As soon as Xavier graduated from high school he auditioned and was added as a member of the band, it was his life's dream. But it was in this decision that he learned things about his father that forever changed him. It was if he was learning things about his hero that he didn't want to know but could not ignore. Eventually the guilt of the situation weighed his spirits down and he quit the band. Putting his guitar away, becoming a normal person doing normal things and disconnecting from his father completely. Until the morning of his father's funeral when his mother comes to his home with his guitar and asks him to play a song for his father at the funeral. What Xavier didn't know was that the guilt he held on to for not telling his mother about his father's bad choices were things she already knew and had accepted decades ago. It is a beautiful story of what some families will go through to stay together and the strength and bond between a mother and her son. *Performer will speak Spanish throughout and should be able to sing in Spanish.

The painful, scary, but sometimes hilarious true story of how one guy survived his parents’ divorce. And lived to sing about it. The teenage years are tough as it is, but throw in the fact that your parents are divorcing and it’s like fuel on the fire. It started with the poorly muffled fights in his parents’ bedroom. They just seemed to get worse, and it seemed that the inevitable would happen. Finally, it did and the family meeting was called. Jesse Butterworth had a hunch his folks were going to announce they were separating–but the two youngest boys were certain they’d be told they were going to Disneyland. No such luck. What happens when your world falls apart? How do you handle it when the two people you trusted most totally disappoint you…and seemingly destroy your already shaky life? That’s what happened to Jesse Butterworth, and he tells his story with humor, honesty, and heart. He also shows how he figured out what to do with the emotions that come with divorce: anger, hurt, frustration, and loss. Picking up a beat up guitar, Jesse discovered that he could turn his misery into music and his pain into passion–becoming the Six String Rocketeer. In the process Jesse realized that the wounds that hurt you can become the wounds that heal you.