By Franklin Abbott
Tommy Emmanuel plays the guitar by ear. He neither reads or writes music. He learned to play the guitar from his mother who had learned to play from a friend when she was a girl growing up on a dairy farm near Brisbane, Australia. As a teenager she took her guitar to the train station in Brisbane to play and sing for troops departing for World War II, “to send the soldiers off with love.”
One of those returning soldiers would marry her and together they would raise a family of musical gypsies. When Tommy was very young, the family began to travel in two station wagons with a tent to pitch. They played in community centers and old folks homes. Many of their audiences were in the Aboriginal communities. They played for talent shows and finally got on television. When Tommy was 10 his father died and the family moved to Sydney. Tommy continued to play the guitar and began a correspondence with his idol Chet Atkins.
Tommy and Chet corresponded for many years before meeting. Tommy became a studio musician playing on albums for Air Supply and Men at Work before joining the Australian rock band Dragon and went from a simple life into “the Lion’s Den.” He found out that he loved performing and has been on the stage performing ever since.
Tommy continued to develop his guitar playing skills. He was inspired by Chet Atkins fingerpicking style. He likens fingerpicking to stride piano. The thumb is used for the bass notes and the fingers for the melody and harmonies. He adds rhythm with thumping and brushing to keep a steady groove. He says he was influenced by Aboriginal music’s use of percussion. When you put all of this together he is a one man band you have to see to believe. His TED talk breaks it down in twenty minutes – watch it at this link.
Hearing Chet Atkins on the radio when he was just 7 changed Tommy’s life forever. Years later, as a young man, he sent a tape to Chet, who invited him to Nashville where the two became fast friends. Chet was in poor health and Tommy became not only his student but his caregiver living in an apartment in Chet’s home. Tommy worked with Chet on what would be his final album, “The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World.” The album features a song Tommy wrote for Chet, “Mister Guitar.”
Before Chet died he made Tommy one of four guitar players he designated as Certified Guitar Players, masters of the fingerpicking technique that Chet had pioneered. Chet lost his motor skills after an operation for a brain tumor and could no longer play. Tommy continued to live in Chet’s home and look after his beloved friend and mentor until Chet died two years later.
Tommy performed with his brother at the closing of the 2000 Olympics in Australia. The event was watched by 3.2 billion people world wide. 30,000 people were involved in the closing ceremony in a “military style operation on a massive level.” The Emmanuel brothers were given exactly 2 minutes and 46 seconds to perform. They were among the few who performed live over backing track. They were seen everywhere in the world except for the US where their part was pre-empted by commercials for Budweiser and Chevrolet.
Tommy continues a whirlwind schedule of performing and recording. He performs over 300 shows a year. When he is not on the road he is home in Nashville with his family, which includes his wife and a five month old daughter. He is also a teacher and holds a guitar camp every year in Louisiana.
His shows are eclectic featuring both songs he has written and popular standards from the Beatles to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Tommy says not all songs make good instrumentals and a song has to “blow my dress up,” for him to perform it in public. He improvises a lot during his performances saying that, “people know when an artist is going through the motions.”
He likes to perform in intimate spaces like the Variety Playhouse where he can get close to his audience. Tommy will perform June 12 and 13 at the Little Five Points venue. Tickets are available at this link.
Franklin Abbott is an Atlanta psychotherapist and poet. Find out more at franklinabbott.com.
