Tommy Emmanuel

Infobox musical artist
Name = Tommy Emmanuel

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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born = birth date and age|1955|05|31
Muswellbrook, New South Wales
Genre = Folk, Rock, Pop
Instrument = Guitar
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Associated_acts = Dragon
Label =
Years_active = 1962 - present
URL = [http://www.tommyemmanuel.com Official website]
Notable_instruments = Maton TE Signature model

Tommy Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist, best known for his incredibly complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar.

Biography

Tommy was born in the Upper Hunter in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. He received his guitar in 1959 at the age of 4 - being taught by his mother to accompany her playing lap steel guitar. At the age of 7 he heard Chet Atkins on the radio. He vividly remembers this moment and says it greatly inspired him. [http://www.adam.com.au/donald/markinter.htm A Great Guitarist Comes Up From Down Under. Mark Pritcher interview.] Accessed on May 7, 2008.]

By the age of 9, in 1964, he was a working professional musician. Recognizing the musical talents of Tommy and his brother Phil, their father created a family band, sold the family home and took his family on the road. With the family living in two station wagons, much of Emmanuel’s childhood was spent touring Australia with his family, playing rhythm guitar, and rarely going to school. The family found it difficult living on the road; they were poor and were often hungry, never settling in one place. His father would often drive ahead, organize interviews, advertising and finding the local music shop where they'd have an impromptu concert the next day. Eventually the New South Wales Department of Education insisted that the Emmanuel children needed to go to school regularly. [http://www.countrymusiconline.net/tommyemmanuel.html Country Music Online interview.] Accessed on May 7, 2008.]

After his father died in 1966, the family settled in Parkes. Tommy eventually moved to Sydney where he came to be noticed nationally when he won a string of talent contests in his teen years. [http://www.musicfrisk.com/picture/interview/tommy.emmanuel.fingerstyle.02.14.2003.php MusicFrisk interview.] Accessed on March 13, 2008.] By the late 1970s, he was playing drums with his brother Phil in the group "Goldrush" as well doing session work on countless albums and jingles. During the early 1980s, he joined the reformed lineup of leading '70s rock group Dragon, touring widely with them, including a 1987 tour with Tina Turner. He left the group to embark on a solo career.

Throughout his career he has played with many notable artists including Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin, Air Supply, and John Denver.

In 1994 he became a member of the John Farnham Band. Australian music veteran John Farnham invited him to play guitar next to Stuart Fraser from "Noiseworks" for the "Concert For Rwanda".

Tommy and his brother Phil performed live in Sydney at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in 2000. The event was televised worldwide. When performing together the pair will sometimes share and play just one guitar with each having one hand free.

In October 2002 he was invited to perform the Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda at a service at the Washington National Cathedral held for the victims of the Bali bombings. Over 80 Australians were killed by the terrorist attack.

Tommy tours the world, playing in both large and small venues. His concerts are extremely popular with his dedicated fans, much due to his powerful and energetic stage presence.

He is engaged to fellow singer/songwriter Lizzie Watkins, with whom he tours. The couple make their home in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Late in 2007 he was diagnosed with heart issues [ [http://break-hollywood.blogspot.com/2007/12/oz-music-legend-tommy-emmanuel-falls.html "Oz music legend Tommy Emmanuel falls ill", posting on 'Break Hollywood', December 2007] . Accessed on April 04, 2008.] and was forced to take a break from his hectic touring schedule due to exhaustion, but returned to full-time touring in early 2008.

Musical Style

Tommy has said that even at a young age he was fascinated by Atkins’ musical style – sometimes referred to as Travis picking – of playing bass with the thumb and melody parts with the first two or three fingers at the same time. This technique became the basis of Tommy's guitar style.

While Tommy has never had formal music training, his playing ability has won him fans from all over the world. He is known to play percussion parts on the body of his guitar. As a solo performer he never plays to a set list and uses a minimum of effects. He usually completes recordings in one take.

He frequently uses his left thumb to fret bass notes on the 5th and 6th strings as well as playing chords such as Am and E with just two fingers. He uses a thumb pick mostly, a flat pick or just fingers.

His main guitar is a small-bodied custom Maton EBG808, that is fitted with a pickup and an internal condenser microphone, to which he has given the nickname "Mouse" due to its quieter volume unplugged but massive sound when plugged into an amp. Two of his three main stage guitars, notably his signature TE1 Maton dreadnought, are battered and worn on the necks and soundboards from his excessive playing and percussive techniques on them. He recently stated at a workshop during his annual festival, Tommyfest UK (2008), that all three of his stage guitars have been broken and repaired numerous times over the years.

Association with Chet Atkins

As a young man in Australia, Tommy wrote to his hero Chet Atkins in Nashville. Eventually Atkins replied with words of encouragement and a longstanding invitation to drop by to visit. [ [http://justjazzguitar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=329&Itemid=52 Just Jazz Guitar interview.] Accessed on March 13, 2008.]

In July 1999, at the 15th Annual Chet Atkins [http://www.misterguitar.com/caas/index.html Appreciation Society Convention] , Chet presented Tommy with a Certified Guitar Player award, an honor Atkins has bestowed on other guitarists. This award gains its fame from being bestowed by Atkins himself, a widely recognized leader in guitar music. The award states: "In Recognition Of His Contributions to the Art Of Fingerpicking." Tommy performs at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) in June each year in Nashville. [ [http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/002881.html Modern Guitars Magazine interview.] Accessed on March 13, 2008.]

In 1997, Emmanuel and Atkins recorded as a duo and released the album "The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World", which was also to be Atkin's last recorded album before he died.

Discography

* 1979 "From Out Of Nowhere"
* 1987 "Up From Down Under"
* 1990 "Dare to Be Different"
* 1992 "Determination"
* 1993 "The Journey"
* 1993 "The Journey Continues"
* 1994 "Back On Azubazi"
* 1995 "Initiation"
* 1995 "Terra Firma" (with Phil Emmanuel)
* 1995 "Classical Gas"
* 1996 "Can't Get Enough"
* 1997 "Midnight Drive" (US release of "Can't Get Enough")
* 1997 "The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World" ("With Chet Atkins")
* 1998 "Collaboration"
* 2000 "Only"
* 2001 "Greatest Hits"
* 2004 "Endless Road"
* 2005 "Live One"
* 2006 "Happy Hour" (with Jim Nichols)
* 2006 "The Mystery"
* 2008 "Center Stage"

Tommy released the DVD "Live At Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat, Australia" on 11 July 2006.

Awards

"Smokey Mountain Lullaby", a duet with Chet Atkins, was nominated for the 1998 Grammy award for Country Instrumental Performance but did not win. His song "Gameshow Rag/Cannonball Rag" won "Instrumental of the Year" at the 35th Tamworth Country Music Festival on Saturday, 27 January 2007, [ [http://www.tamworthcountrymusic.com.au/index.cfm?page_id=1203 Tamworth Country Music Festival website.] Accessed on March 13, 2008.] and also was nominated that year for a Grammy for "Best Country Instrumental Performance". [ [http://countrymusic.about.com/od/awards/a/grammynom07_2.htm Countrymusic. About website.] Accessed on March 13, 2008.]

In the May 2008 issue of Guitar Player Magazine, Tommy Emmanuel was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their readers poll.

References

External links

* [http://www.tommyemmanuel.com TommyEmmanuel.com]
* [http://www.tommyemmanuel.wordpress.com tommyemmanuel.wordpress.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tommyemmanuel1 MySpace.com/TommyEmmanuel1]
* [http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/002881.html 2007 interview on "Modern Guitars" magazine]
* [http://www.favorednations.com favorednations.com]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGpQzyUMHSA Tommyfest - Tommy Emmanuel/Jake Shimabukuro]