Derek Trucks was already a force in the blues when Eric Clapton came calling in 2006.
The guitarist had joined the Allman Brothers Band as a teenager and by his early 20s had established himself as one of the most accomplished players of his generation — particularly when it came to slide guitar. So when Clapton reached out to him, it was a significant moment in Trucks’ career.
But Trucks didn’t initially know it was Clapton calling.
“I was here at home playing poker with my grandfather and dad and brother and a bunch of friends, and I remember just getting a call on my cellphone,” Trucks says in a recent interview with Alan Paul.
“It was like, ‘Hello. This is a message for Derek Trucks. This is Eric Clapton. This may sound like a hoax but it’s not,’” Trucks recalls. “It was amazing. I was like, ‘What is going on?’ [The message said], ‘When you get a chance, call me back.’’
This was 2006, when returning an international call wasn’t always as simple as tapping a name in your contacts. Trucks says he needed a specific international calling plan to return the call.
“I had to go down to the Verizon store the next day and get an international plan so I could call him back.”
As it turned out, the call was legitimate. Clapton invited Trucks to join the sessions for The Road to Escondido, his 2006 collaboration with J.J. Cale that also featured a star-studded cast of musicians.
Despite his experience, Trucks suspects Clapton’s invitation was a kind of audition — “more of a ‘make sure we could hang and make sure you’re not a total knucklehead’ situation,” he said.
Apparently, Trucks passed the test. He would go on to join Clapton’s touring band in 2007, and the pair continued to collaborate over the years. They reunited for The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale in 2014, an album celebrating the influential songwriter whose music had shaped both guitarists.
But the relationship began with a missed call, a voicemail and a trip to the Verizon store to buy an international calling plan — because when Eric Clapton calls, you probably want to make sure you can call him back.
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