Guitar gods-in-training are encouraged to enter the second edition of the Ernie Ball Play Crossroad Contest for a chance to rock out on stage at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival along with Eric Clapton and his pals.
The fest takes place June 26 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Clapton will be joined by B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Doyle Bramhall II, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top and The Allman Brothers Band.
The lineup also includes Vince Gill, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Steve Winwood, Sonny Landreth, Bert Jansch, Joe Bonamassa, James Burton, Earl Klugh, Robert Cray, Albert Lee and Hubert Sumlin.
Ernie Ball is offering one lucky, unsigned artist or band a spot on the fest’s lineup with a 30-minute performance slot on the Ernie Ball Village Stage. To enter the contest, which is also being hosted by Premier Guitar, GuitarCenter and Reverb Nation, interested musicians must create a profile and upload between one to five MP3 files, photos and a bio.
Fans can help choose the winning axman (or woman) by voting for their favorite artists at PlayCrossroads.com. A panel of judges, including Ernie Ball representatives and contest sponsors, will then review the 500 bands/artists with the most votes. The winning artist/band will be chosen based on musicianship, originality, authenticity and songwriting.
In addition to the coveted 30-minute performance slot, the winning artist/band will also receive roundtrip airfare to Chicago and hotel accommodations as well as a full Ernie Ball Music Man endorsement, a feature in Premier Guitar and prizes from GuitarCenter.
All profits from the festival will benefit the Crossroad Centre. Clapton founded the non-profit addiction treatment and education facility, which is located on the West Indies island of Antigua, in 1998.
“We're tremendously honored to be associated with Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. Supporting the Antigua Foundation, in addition to Eric Clapton's charitable efforts is very important to Ernie Ball,” notes Brian Ball of Ernie Ball Inc.
“Offering an unsigned band this tremendous opportunity to play live alongside the collection of legendary guitar players is also something we're very excited about.”
The Crossroads Guitar Festival last took place in 2007, which marked the first ever Ernie Ball Crossroad Contest. Since winning the contest at the age of 16,Tyler Dow Bryant has worked with artists including Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Chris Duarte, Brent Rowan, Albert Lee, Steve Lukather, Don and Donnie Nelson, Sean Neff, Wes Jeans, Alan Haynes and Dickey Betts.
Click here to register for the contest.
Click here for the festival's Web site.