Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny” — the 1965 Fender Stratocaster that was part of his working arsenal through the years when he was making Austin the center of the American blues conversation — will be on display at Moody Center ATX this September as part of the Crossroads Guitar Festival’s Legends Collection. I saw Vaughan at Antone’s on a Wednesday night in 1983, three dollars at the door, when most of the room hadn’t caught up to what they were watching. The guitar is evidence of what that decade felt like. Eric Clapton has kept it close, which tells you something about both men. The 7th Crossroads Guitar Festival arrives in Austin for a two-night stand, September 26 and 27, with Night 2 on Sunday, September 27.
About the Festival
Clapton founded the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 1999 as a fundraiser for the Crossroads Centre Antigua, the drug rehabilitation and education facility he had built on the island the year before. The 2026 edition is the 7th, and it falls on the 28th anniversary of the Centre — making the charitable mission as central to the event as the music. “I can’t walk away,” Clapton said, “so I’ve come back to do the thing I know how to do best, which is play.”
What he has assembled for two nights in Austin stretches the festival’s genre mandate — blues, rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, gospel — across 25-plus artists. Making their Crossroads debut in 2026: Trey Anastasio of Phish, Tommy Emmanuel, Julian Lage, and Pete Townshend of The Who. Returning veterans include Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Buddy Guy, Marcus King, Sonny Landreth, John Mayer, the Del McCoury Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Randolph, alongside Ben Haggard, Sierra Hull, Taj Mahal, Pedro Martins, John McLaughlin, Keb’ Mo’, Dirk Powell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Daniel Santiago, and Bradley Walker & Brothers of the Heart. Clapton performs both nights and closes each. The Legends Collection showcase — featuring Clapton’s “Blackie” (a 1956 Fender Stratocaster), his 1964 Gibson ES-335, and Vaughan’s “Lenny” — is worth arriving early for.
About Moody Center ATX
Moody Center ATX opened in April 2022, a $375 million arena on the University of Texas at Austin campus that replaced the aging Frank Erwin Center. The room holds more than 15,000 and serves as home to UT Longhorns men’s and women’s basketball. It has hosted more than 380 concerts since opening; the venue’s SVP of Entertainment has already called this edition of the Crossroads Festival “poised to be one of the most iconic events” in that run. That’s not a claim made lightly about a room this active.
Tickets & Show Info
Night 2 of the 7th Crossroads Guitar Festival is Sunday, September 27, 2026 at Moody Center ATX, 2001 Robert Dedman Drive, Austin, TX 78712. Listed start time is 4:00 PM CT — confirm the current schedule with the Moody Center ATX website, as event times are subject to change. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster. Ticket pricing has not been publicly announced.