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TOMMY EMMANUEL\u00a0<\/b><\/h1>\nTOMMY EMMANUEL\u00a0<\/b><\/h1>\nBy Russell Hall<\/b><\/p>\n
If anyone can be said to occupy the throne left behind by the great Chet Atkins, it\u2019s Tommy Emmanuel. Regarded by many as the finest acoustic fingerpicker in the world, the two-time Grammy nominee has spent five decades dazzling audiences with his six-string virtuosity. And the 58-year-old Emmanuel places just as high a premium on songcraft and entertainment as he does on technique.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been a song person,\u201d he explains. \u201cGrowing up I listened to Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, Don McLean\u2014figuring out how to construct songs, why a song touches you, why a song is a hit. I was also fascinated by performers who had charisma, whose shows were polished and full of entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The self-taught Emmanuel was a bona fide pro by age 6, traveling with his family\u2019s band throughout his native Australia. His first trip to America came in 1980, when he traveled to Nashville to meet Atkins, his longtime hero. His career blossomed under Atkins\u2019 tutelage, abetted by an emphasis on touring. Some things never change\u2014in recent years the guitar sensation has performed more than 300 shows annually.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel\u2019s latest project finds him teamed with fellow fingerpicking great Martin Taylor. Their acoustic duet album,<\/p>\n
The Colonel and the Governor<\/i>, consists mostly of jazz and pop classics performed in a deft blend of breathtaking fingerwork. \u201cMartin flew in and did four dates with me. In the afternoons we would go to the venue early to practice and work up the songs. We pretty much had them nailed by the time we went into the studio,\u201d says Emmanuel.<\/p>\n
High points include a breezy rendition of Roger Nichols and Paul Williams\u2019 \u201cI Won\u2019t Last a Day Without You,\u201d a swinging version of Benny Goodman\u2019s \u201cJersey Bounce,\u201d and an eloquent rendering of Don McLean\u2019s \u201cWonderful Baby.\u201d Emmanuel spoke with us about the new album, his evolution as a player, and why he performs without a set list.<\/p>\n
What made this project special?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was a good combination of styles. Martin and I are different types of players, but it just seemed to gel. The funny thing is we\u2019re both used to being solo players, but whenever we\u2019ve played together it\u2019s always been so much fun. I especially enjoyed playing rhythm, because I so rarely get to do that anymore.<\/p>\n
Describe the recording process.<\/b><\/p>\n
We were ready to go by the time we got to the Nashville studio. We put the album together in a couple of days, recording it as if we were playing live. We had two separate rooms with glass between us, so that we could see and signal each other, but we were wearing headphones and were totally isolated. We definitely wanted that isolation so that if there was anything we needed to do with our individual sounds we could do that without affecting the other.<\/p>\n
Was it all single takes?<\/b><\/p>\n
There was no redoing. Everything was spontaneous. Once you get comfortable with the arrangements and know everything is working, you can then dig into your bag of creativity and bring those things out. The whole album is filled with\u00a0improvisation. Once we decided who was going to take the melody and what the key changes were, we played as if\u00a0we were onstage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What was the biggest challenge?<\/b><\/p>\n
Deciding on the right material. We wanted strong songs where the melody was good, but also where we could find a way of making the chords underneath interesting. We spent time creating arrangements that would create space for each other. On some of the tunes, we would start playing the melody together, and when the song went to the bridge, I would go into the groove and Martin would take the melody. There were also tunes, like \u201cWonderful Baby,\u201d where I just played the melody as a solo piece, and then did a key change in the middle, from F to B-flat, and then Martin came in and took a solo. That was a whole different\u00a0structure as well.<\/p>\n
How do you preserve the integrity of a song while still being adventurous?<\/b><\/p>\n
You have to walk that line. You don\u2019t want to be self-indulgent. You want to be true to the melody, but also be interesting\u2014to be as entertaining as possible. The first track, \u201cI Won\u2019t Last a Day Without You,\u201d is a Paul Williams song that the Carpenters recorded. Everybody from our generation knows that song, but the way we changed the chorus gives it more power and made it more interesting for us as players. We\u2019re still playing what the composer intended, we\u2019re just trying to make it more\u00a0interesting for ourselves.<\/p>\n
Who influenced your stage show?<\/b><\/p>\n
I observed lots of great singers, musicians and comedians, learning from them\u2014and stealing ideas from those I was impressed with. It all helps you to be better onstage. The only real way to engage the audience and make an impact is to go out and give your all.<\/p>\n
What was it like turning pro as a child?<\/b><\/p>\n
I had a typical boy\u2019s life growing up in Australia. I played games with my friends, but when it was time to do a show, that was just as much fun. I had both\u2014a normal boy\u2019s life but at the same time I was in show business. I never got caught up in the mentality of wanting to be perceived as a star. I was just enjoying trying to play\u00a0the best I could.<\/p>\n
What was it about fingerstyle playing that reeled you in?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was a sound that drove me crazy\u2014a style I loved from the get-go. I knew I wanted to do it, I just had to work it out. I didn\u2019t think of anything else. Of course when I heard George Benson and Django Reinhardt and others, I wanted to play their music as well. But that music didn\u2019t fall into my hands in the same way Chet Atkins and Merle Travis and Jerry Reed\u2019s music did.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your songwriting process?<\/b><\/p>\n
I follow my instincts. If I get an idea, I\u2019ll start working it until a melody comes. I approach it like I\u2019m writing a verse, a chorus, a verse, a chorus with a solo and a key change. I have a pop-rock song mentality when I\u2019m writing for the guitar. Sometimes if I\u2019m really inspired, I\u2019ll start writing and won\u2019t stop until the song\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n
Has not reading music ever been a hindrance in your career?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Not so far, although I would love to\u00a0be able to sight-read like some of the great players I admire. Think of people like\u00a0Tommy Tedesco and Barney Kessel. Imagine going into the studio and sitting there with\u00a050 other musicians and sight-reading the most complicated things, and having to get it in just one or two takes. That\u2019s incredible pressure, but those guys did it.<\/p>\n
Why no set list?<\/b><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to be tied down to a structure. I want to take the show wherever it needs to go. You have to go on what you\u2019re feeling at the time, perhaps depending on what\u2019s going on with the audience. I\u2019ve been doing it long enough to know what works. The biggest decision is, \u201cWhat do I start with?\u201d It\u2019s important to start right. If you come out of the gate with something that\u2019s exactly right for that moment, the show will take\u00a0off like a firecracker.<\/p>\n
How do you feel about being called a musician\u2019s musician?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never allowed myself to slip into the \u201cI\u2019ve got to play for musicians\u201d bag. And I\u2019ve never listened just to guitar players. I\u2019ve always been into singers and songwriters. The songs have to stand up, and the arrangements have to be interesting. I\u2019m interested in reaching out to the world, not in impressing a few people who read guitar magazines, or reeling off a bunch of technique just because I can. It\u2019s about the quality and the integrity of your songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOMMY EMMANUEL\u00a0 Teaming up to unleash twice the fingerpicking power on his latest set By Russell Hall If anyone can be said to occupy the throne left behind by the great Chet Atkins, it\u2019s Tommy Emmanuel. Regarded by many as the finest acoustic fingerpicker in the world, the two-time Grammy nominee has spent five decades […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3805],"tags":[6978,912,7080],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10737"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10741,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10737\/revisions\/10741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}