Eric Clapton is releasing an acoustic LP of his songs. The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions is a mostly acoustic set recorded at Cowdray House in West Sussex, England this year.
The project was initiated as the result of the forced cancellation of his concerts this past May at London's Royal Albert Hall due to the pandemic. So he reconvened with three members of his band -- drummer Steve Gadd,bassist Nathan East and keyboardist Chris Stainton-- to the English countryside and staged a concert in the presence of only the participants themselves while letting the cameras roll. Clapton’s wife Melia, the sole outside observer, inspired the collection's title.
Among the 17 songs they did were "Layla." "After Midnight," "Tears in Heaven" and "Bell Bottom Blues," along with covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and "Man of the World." (Clapton used to be Mick Fleetwood's brother-in-law when he was married to Pattie Boyd and Fleetwood to her sister,Jenny.)
It will be released on CD, vinyl, DVD and digitally on November 12th.
Clapton starts an eight-city U.S. tour on September 13th in Fort Worth, Texas.
There's a video trailer here.