Tommy Emmanuel

Hey! :)

I was just clicking around YouTube today and I came across an artist that I had completely forgotten about. Tommy is a great electric guitarist but an even better acoustic guitarist. The majority of his music is instrumental but he occasionally sings. He can play basically the entire song by himself "on his own guitar": drums, bass, rhythm, lead and when he sings.. well.. he's not great but he's not bad either.

Tommy was one of the first guitarists I really latched onto when I was first learning guitar. Even though he is mainly acoustic, he is so good at playing every part of his instrument that learning anything from him helped me a lot. I've provided a link to a cover song that he does.. which is kind of odd considering that he has written some awesome songs both electric and acoustic. The songs from the Determination album, I think, are the ones I got into when I was "ready" to start learning from famous guitarists (probably about 2 or 3 years after starting to play). There's this really lovely tune of his that I can't quite remember the name of.. and that was the first song I learnt by watching an instructional video.. VHS for the win! :)

Anyway.. here is a link to a recent concert performance by him in Croatia 2007. He plays the song "House of the Rising Sun".. but brings new life to an otherwise worn out song... then towards the end he is going to do some of that "drumming" I was talking about. It's easier if you just listen than me try to explain it. I picked this video because it shows off what Tommy can do all in one performance.
Tommy Emmanuel-House Of The Rising Sun

After that you could check out other stuff like "Determination", which is electric guitar.. "Stay Close To Me" which is a nice acoustic track.. or perhaps a cover that he does of "Classical Gas".

Yeah, you're right. A friend of mine here on GT turned me on to Tommy. The guy is simply amazing. I am constantly blown away when I see a video of him performing.

Tommy Emmanuel is a wonderful guitarist! Glad you brought him up.

Originally Posted by: light487The majority of his music is instrumental but he occasionally sings. He can play basically the entire song by himself "on his own guitar": drums, bass, rhythm, lead and when he sings.. well.. he's not great but he's not bad either.

I disagree, I think he is great. The ability to play all those parts together is not easy. He makes it look easy and does it wih style. Think about how many guitarists that can do that. Not many.

I prefer when he doesn't sing. I also dislike that drumming thing he does. Blech. And I don't like his slightly bluegrassy approach on steel sting acoustic. But his amazing technique (playing melody, bass, chords simultaneously) combined with his wonderful enthusiam is always enough for me to stick around and listen to the end.

Tommy is on the Les Paul Documentary DVD I saw. He does "Blue Moon" along with Les. One of the few guys on it that is worth watching. Along with Les, of course. :) And the pianist in Les's band. Wow!

Hehe I meant his singing is not that great :)

Originally Posted by: light487Hehe I meant his singing is not that great :)

Oh. Right. Gotcha. Guess I misunderstood that. LOL. :p

It's rather strange that with how popular Tommy is, that I never see any regard to his brother Phil. He is fantastic as well and when they play together it is just incredible.............
Maybe no one knows that Tommy has a brother.......

Here's an amazing clip of Tommy and Phil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M94V5DDQwrg

Similar, in a way, to how everyone knows Angus Young but hardly anyone knows Malcolm Young, his brother.. who not only plays the same instrument but plays in the same band even..