Tommy Emmanuel
Born:
in Australia
- Genre: Jazz
- Active: '60s - 2000s
- Instrument: Guitar
|
Results for Tommy Emmanuel
|
On this page:
|
Born:
in Australia
| Tommy Emmanuel | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | May 31, 1955 (age 52) |
| Genre(s) | acoustic/world |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1962 - present |
| Website | Official website |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Maton TE Signature model | |
Tommy Emmanuel, CGP (born May 31, 1955) is an Australian guitarist, best known for his fingerpicking style. Throughout his career he has played with many notable artists including: Chet Atkins, Sir George Martin, Air Supply and John Denver.
Tommy was born in the New South Wales town of Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter. He began to play guitar at the age of 4 and by the age of 5, was a working professional musician, as much of his childhood was spent touring Australia with his family band, playing rhythm guitar.
When his father died in 1966, he started to give guitar lessons at the tender age of 12. He first came to be noticed nationally when he won a string of talent contests in his teen years, and by the late 1970s, he was playing with his brother Phil in the group Goldrush. During the early 1980s, he joined the reformed lineup of leading '70s rock group Dragon, touring widely with them, including a 1987 tour with Tina Turner, before leaving to embark on a solo career.
While Tommy has never had formal music training, his prodigious playing ability has won him fans from all over the world. As well as being a renowned professional guitar player, he is also a professional percussionist, and has been known to play percussion parts on the body of his guitar.
1994 saw Tommy as a member of the John Farnham Band. Australian music veteran John Farnham invited him to play guitar next to Stuart Fraser from Noiseworks for the Concert For Rwanda.
In July 1999, at the 15th Annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention, Chet presented Tommy with a Certified Guitar Player award, an honour bestowed on only two other guitarists (besides Atkins himself) - "In Recognition Of His Contributions To The Art Of Fingerpicking".
One of his career highlights was his live performance at Sydney when he played on the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in 2000. 1 billion people watched this event, which was shown worldwide.
He tours around the world, frequently playing in small venues. His concerts are extremely popular with his dedicated fans, much due to his powerful and energetic stage presence.
Tommy released the DVD "Live At Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat, Australia" July 11th, 2006.
Tommy's latest album, "The Mystery," was released August 22, 2006. His song "Gameshow Rag/Cannonball Rag" from this CD won "Instrumental of the Year" at the 35th Country Music Awards held at the Tamworth Country Music Festival on Saturday the 27th January 2007 and also was nominated that year for a Grammy for "Best Country Instrumental Performance".
Emmanuel is a committed Christian since beating substance addiction two decades ago. He is engaged to fellow singer/songwriter Lizzie Watkins, with whom he tours.[citation needed]
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "Tommy Emmanuel" at WikiAnswers.
Copyrights:
![]() | Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tommy Emmanuel". Read more |
Mentioned In: