Hi everybody,

If you like guitar fingerstyle (solo) playing, you must know who is Tommy Emmanuel. If you don’t know about him, or never heard his name before, is okay, that’s normal, as seldom have people listen to instrumental songs. Now, let me share a little bit with you.

I was started to know Tommy Emmauel from YouTube since last 2 years ago. His live guitar playing full of spirit. This was the first impression in my mind. Another great thing from him is he plays guitar full of joy, smooth and without any mistake. (may be have.. But i can bet with you, you will hardly find him plays any mistake) That’s not easy!!! Besides, i was so impress with his guitar fingerstyle arrangement. It’s absolutely beautiful and complex. (but is playable by any serious guitarist) You will always find there are more than 1 guitarist playing the song, but actually it’s only one guitarist, who is Tommy Emmanuel.

One thing that i have little bit similarity with him is, he also play drum too. In the interview, he said, he often applied the drum ryhtm into his guitar soloing. Wow, what a great idea and inspiration to all guitar players.

My favourite Tommy’s songs are: Papa George, Walking man blues, Amazing Grace, Beatles Medley, Tall Fiddler, Over the rainbow, Blue Moon, Sukiyaki and many more. All great arrangement and great tone! (Click here to download Tommy Emmanuel Free MP3)

Last month, (Jan 2009) i just bought Tommy’s latest live CD album from eBay - “Center Stage”. (My first Tommy’s album. ) It’s 2 Cd’s live recording album. More than 20 songs. That’s a great live recording album. Sound great! I strongly recommend to all of you. Trust me, it worth for the money ($), and i sure you will love his guitar playing style

A little bit of Tommy’s biography

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

Two-time Grammy nominee - Tommy Emmanuel has a professional career that spans over 4 decades and continues to intersect with some of the finest musicians throughout the world. Tommy’s unique style - he calls it simply “finger style” - is akin to playing guitar the way a pianist plays piano, using all ten fingers.

Guitar legend Chet Akins was one of the first to inspire Tommy Emmanuel to pick up the guitar as a child. Decades later, Atkins himself became one of Emmanuel’s biggest fans. In 1999, Chet Akins honored Tommy Emmanuel with the title of “Certified Guitar Player” (C.G.P) for his lifetime contribution to the instrument. So, when you buy Tommy’s album or when you visit to his official website, you will see the word - C.G.P  Such a great honor from guitar master - Chet Akins.  By the way, this is a rare honor that shared by only 3 other people in the world, which including Jerry Reed, Steve Wariner and John Knowles).

Fyi, Tommy did record with Chet Akins in year 1996. And the album called “The Day the finger Pickers Took Over the World”. Which Emmanuel received his first Grammy award nomination. (This was also Chet Akins last recording) Too bad…

Emmanuel was voted Rolling Stone (Australia) Magazine’s “Most Popular Guitarist” for two consecutive years. He has earned four Platinum and Gold albums, two consecutive “Golden Guitar” awards (2006, 2007) at the CMAA Awards in Australia. Another stellar career highlight was Tommy’s performance (with his brother Phil) at the Sydney 2000 Olympics Closing Ceremonies, viewed by over 2 billion people around the world. Emmanuel has set sales records that have yet to be broken and performed with hundreds of musical legends including Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Keith Urban, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin, Tina Turner, Joe Walsh, Stevie Wonder, Nokie Edwards (of the Ventures), Hank Marvin, the Lexington (Kentucky) Philharmonic, the Dortmund (Germany) Symphony, and the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Tommy hosts several annual “TommyFest” concerts, where other stellar internationally recognized musicians are invited to share in a four day all-out celebration of music.   (… info from Tommy’s official website)

Info:

Acoustic guitar: Maton (Australia guitar brand)

Official website: www.tommyemmanuel.com

Myspace: Tommy Emmanuel Myspace