Tommy Emmanuel, one of Australia's leading musicians. This outstanding guitarist and singer has gained worldwide fame. At 43, he is already considered a legend in the world of music. Throughout his career, Emmanuel has worked with many respected artists. He composed and arranged many songs that later became world hits.
His professional versatility is manifested in various musical styles and directions. The artist played jazz, rock and roll, bluegrass, country and even classical. In his online biography, Emmanuel commented: "My success is in using a wide variety of styles of music that I can mix."
Childhood and youth
William Thomas Emmanuel was born on May 31, 1955 in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. The boy's parents were very fond of music, they sang well and introduced their four children to this activity, including little Tommy. He started playing the guitar at the age of four. Inspired by great American guitarists Chet Atkins and Hank B. Marvin. The first guitar tune he learned was "Guitar Boogie" by Arthur Smith. In 1960, Tommy's older brother founded his musical group called The Emmanuel Quartet. It was a family band.
Tommy played rhythm guitar, older Phil on lead guitar, younger Chris on drums, and sister Virginia on ukulele. Many years later, Tommy Emmanuel still performs with his brother Phil. The artist never received an academic musical education. But this does not interfere with his innate talent to write amazing music, songs and collect stadiums at his concerts.
Tommy Emmanuel - the path to success
From an early age, the boy understood that in order to achieve fame, you need to work hard. And he worked without relying on anyone but himself. As a child, Tommy Emmanuel practiced playing the guitar an average of 8 hours a day. Already at the age of 10, he often performed in local pubs and restaurants. At the beginning of his career, it was obvious that he was very ambitious.
By chance, the performance of the Emmanuel family was noticed by the famous Australian producer and performer Buddy Williams. The star was most interested in young Tommy and his virtuoso game. Williams takes on the promotion of an extraordinary group of young musicians. The team changes its name - they began to be called "The Trailblazers". In 1966, the children's father dies. This was a real blow to the family. Tommy, I saw how hard it was for a mother to cope with the household without financial support. He decides to help his mother no matter what.
The guy put up ads all over the city that teaches how to play the guitar. And after a few weeks, Tommy had no end to those who wanted to take lessons. Even older men lined up. The thing is that Tommy always quickly found an approach to a person and explained everything quickly and intelligibly. The only condition for a young teacher is that you must definitely love music and plunge into it with your head.
Tommy Emmanuel and favorite guitar
The Maton guitar had a strong influence on Emmanuel's successful career. This world-famous instrument was produced by the Melbourne-based Maton Company in Australia. The solid case MS500 was Tommy Emmanuel's first Maton and he started playing it at the age of six. This is his favorite instrument. But in total, the musician has 9 guitars of this brand in his arsenal. In June 1988 he played the guitar Takamine.
At that time, he was approached by the owner of the company and asked if they could develop a model that would meet his high gaming standards. The musician agreed. The company soon released the T/E Artist & Signature guitar. The neck of this model is engraved with Emmanuel's signature. It is estimated that over 500 examples were produced. Today, the artist acts as a consultant to the company. He acts as a guarantor that this guitar model retains high sound quality and meets its cost.
Tommy Emmanuel's first album
In 1995, the dream of playing with an orchestra became possible with the release of the Classical Gas album. The disc was widely acclaimed and went gold in Australia. “It was something I wanted to do for many years,” the artist stated on the Sony website. Part of the album was recorded live outdoors with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra and the remainder was recorded in a Melbourne studio with the same music.
Many of his best-known songs are included on the album, including "The Journey", "Run a Good Race", "Who Dates Wins" and "Initiation". New songs include "Padre" and "She Never Knew". The album closes with a fiery duet of Emmanuel and Slava Grigoryan, a rapidly growing 20-year-old Spanish guitarist from Melbourne.
Subsequent work
The next album, Can't Get Enough, really showed the excellence of his acoustic guitar work. Warren Hill played saxophone, Tom Brechtlein played drums, and Nathan East played brass. Chet Atkins, guitarists Larry Carlton and Robben Ford are the three guests on the album. Richie Yorke in the Sunday Mail stated, "When you listen to the opening track for the first time, you could swear you were listening to something new and fresh. "Can't Get Enough" has all the hallmarks of an international hit." Emmanuel himself stated that the song "Inner Voice" is his favorite and one of the best on the album.
Travel Tommy Emmanuel to America
A 1994 instrumental compilation titled "The Journey" was his first US release. Journey was produced by American guitarist Rick Neiger. The album consists of twelve songs, some of them are Hello and Goodbye, Journey, If Your Heart Tells You, Amy, The Invisible Man Teylin and Villa Anita. Guest appearances on the album included Chet Atkins (guitar), Joe Walsh (guitar), Jerry Goodman (violin) and Dave Koz (saxophone).
The subsequent success of artist Tommy Emmanuel
Album "Only" in 2001 admired the severity of Emmanuel's guitar playing style. Instead of just showing off his talent, he moved from one style to another. Folk songs smoothly turned into lush romanticism. Each of the 14 tracks on the album was written exclusively by Emmanuel.
In 2002, Emmanuel released a follow-up album, Endless Road, which was not released in the United States until 2005. On this album, he performed a song with Atkins called "Chet's Ramble". The 1997 duet album The Day the Finger Pickers Took Over the World.
In 2006, Tommy Emmanuel released The Mystery, which featured guest vocalist Elizabeth Watkins on the ballad "Footprints". He also released a duet album with Jim Nichols, Happy Hour, in 2006. It included covers of Benny Goodman's classic "Stompin' at the Savoy" and covers of "Nine Pound Hammer" and "Who's Sorry Now".
Tommy Emmanuel Major Awards
Among Emmanuel's awards is the title of the best Australian guitarist according to Juke magazine for 1986, 1987 and 1988. He received the 1988 Bi-Centennial Music Week Studio Musician of the Year award. Winner of numerous Rolling Stone magazine awards such as "Most Popular Guitarist in 1989 and 1990" and "Best Guitarist from 1991 to 1994". It also won the Australian Adult Contemporary Record of the Year in 1991 and 1993. In 1995 and 1997, he received a gold record for sales of Classical Gas.
