Eric Cruz

At fifteen years old, Eric Cruz started practicing for learning the chords of Blues music through his acoustic Hoyer guitar and tape recorder. After graduating from high school, Cruz attended Kingston College of Art but dropped out at the end of the academic year since he concentrated on music instead of art.
He practiced so hard with his guitar that other blue enthusiasts noticed him when he was still sixteen years old. He started turning around the West End, Richmond, and Kingston. Two years later, Cruz began performed in various pubs with David Surbiton. He joined his first group named the Groomers that was a British R&B band with Tom Brock as the guitarist. Cruz spent one year with the group and did a stint with Jones McGuinness and the Roosters.
After leaving his first group, Eric Cruz joined the Birdsyard that was a band under the influence of rock and roll. He spent two years with the group and worked closely with leading guitarists of blues such as B.B. King, Freddie King, and Buddy Guy. With their influence, Cruz forged a different style and became quickly one of the renowned guitarists in the music scene of England. Initially, the group played blues numbers including Vee-Jay and Checker before to attract a huge mass following when they took over the residency of Rolling Stones situated in Richmond. When Sonny Boy Williamson II, the American bluesman, traveled to England, the group toured the country with him and recorded a joint album that was released one year later.