O my god! Derek Trucks has been asked to join Eric Clapton in his upcoming European tour. Talk about a tour de force, these guys will be lighting up the stage every night. Derek Trucks will go down in history as the best slide bluesman of all time (with all due respect to Duane Allman). Add Trucks’ slide to Eric Clapton’s already incredible brand of blues and you’ve got a musical match made in heaven. Add to that the guitar licks of virtuoso Doyle Bramhall II and who knows what could happen!

Here is the skinny from derektrucks.com:

It’s official! Eric Clapton has invited Derek to play guitar in his band for his upcoming European tour starting in May. Derek is very excited to have the opportunity to play with this living legend. Just to clarify, The Derek Trucks Band will not be opening these dates but the DTB Songlines tour will continue throughout the spring and summer as Derek juggles a busy schedule for ‘06! More Derek Trucks Band dates will be added to the tourpage soon so keep an eye out. For the official Clapton press release and tour dates go here

And the list of musicians on the tour (thanks Jambase!) :

Clapton has assembled an impressive band, including several album collaborators. The 2006 tour band will consist of: Eric Clapton, guitar, as well as Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks also on guitar, Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass, Steve Jordan on drums, The Kick Horns: Simon Clarke, Roddy Lorimer, and Tim Sanders on brass, and backing vocals by Michelle John and Sharon White.

And just in case you’ve never checked out Doyle Bramhall II before, I present to you with the following: