Tommy Emmanuel – The Most Incredible Country Music Guitarist Ever
There are very few guitar pickers worthy of C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player) status. As the founder of that elite club, Chet Atkins should know! And when Chet Atkins calls you “without a doubt, one of the greatest guitar pickers on the planet”, you must know you’re doing something right. Tommy Emmanuel has been doing a lot of things right for more than 4 decades, stunning audiences of musicians and non-musicians alike throughout the world. Like fellow guitar performers extraordinaire Chet and Mark Knopfler, Emmanuel would seem to possess that sixth sense when it comes to framing a melody on the guitar fretboard. His guitar arrangements which appear in numerous collection books of country guitar tabs and country guitar tablature never come off as clunky, forced, or contrived. Instead, they afford the listener a crystal clear road into the heart of the fingerstyle guitar solos he performs.
Born in 1955 to a musical family, Tommy began playing guitar at the tender age of four. He was initially taught by his mother for the objective of accompanying her on lap steel guitar, but it didn’t take long for his own interest in the instrument to surface. Emmanuel can clearly remember the first time he ever heard Chet Atkins at the age of seven and it had a profound impact on him. He invested countless hours making an attempt to decipher Atkins’ complicated fingerstyle guitar methodology. Before he was ten years old, he had already earned years of experience as a professional musician traveling with his family, performing throughout Australia. Tommy played mostly rhythm guitar at that time, whilst his brother Phil (also an excellent guitarist) performed lead. The brothers almost never attended school until pressured to do so by the Australian Department of Education.
Tommy’s dad died of a heart attack when he was only 11 years old. Consequently, the Emmanuel siblings (including his brother Chris on drums and sister Virginia on slide guitar) earned the household’s sole income for years. Shortly after his father’s untimely death, Emmanuel wrote a letter to “Mr. Guitar” (Chet Atkins himself) and was shocked when he got a letter back. Though it would still be many years prior to their first meeting in person, the two grew to become good friends and Chet grew to become Tommy’s mentor.
Close to the age of 14, Emmanuel moved to Sydney to pursue a full-time music profession of his own. He rapidly discovered work in a number of bands and before long found himself in demand as one of the hottest session guitar players in town. He was heard on recordings by “Air Supply” and “Men At Work” to name just a few. He also lent his skills to numerous commercials and TV shows. In 1980, Emmanuel at last made the trip to the US, meeting and playing with Chet for the first time. Since then, “Mr. Guitar” has done a great deal to help Tommy’s career for which Tommy is eternally grateful.
Emmanuel’s first solo recording, “Up From Down Under” turned up in 1987 and quite a few future releases enjoyed stellar success in his indigenous Australia. In 1996, he recorded “The Day Fingerpickers Took Over The World” with Chet Atkins for which he obtained his first Grammy Award nomination. Since then his reputation has continued to grow worldwide, no doubt spurred on by his concert performance at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He released his initial solo acoustic guitar record album “Only” in 2001, starting a trend that a lot of fans have long been waiting for.
With increased publicity in the media all the time, Emmanuel’s fan base continues to develop like never before. Performing nearly 300 concerts a year, Tommy is right where he desires to be – sharing his love for music and the guitar with the rest of us! Luckily for aspiring guitarists, Tommy has gone on to release many guitar tab books and DVD courses that explain his solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements and the playing techniques that he uses to perform them.
Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps guitar players become better guitarists. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous selection of country guitar tabs as well as instructional DVDs by Tommy Emmaneul himself. Find out more and claim Steven’s popular free monthly guitar lesson e-course available at: =>
http://www.chordmelody.com/Tommy-Emmanuel.htm
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