Legendary Acoustic Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel—Interview with SDTR!
Words by Kristen Fogle
For one night only, on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Balboa Theatre, legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel will be playing a special performance—one year after recording his PBS special at the same location. The special celebrates his current two disc album “Little by Little” on Favored Nations Entertainment and will air in June with over 160 airings.
Known for his dazzling performance, flawless guitar skills, and voluminous repertoire, Emmanuel celebrates five decades performing. A household name in his home country of Australia and incredibly popular in the US, the two time Grammy nominated artist was named the 2008 Best Acoustic Guitarist and Gold Medalist by Guitar Player Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine and boasts being the only non-American inducted into the National Thumbpickers' Hall of Fame in Muhlenburg, KY.
Now, in the midst of gearing up to play in “America’s Finest City” again, Emmanuel was kind enough to answer some questions about his new websites—one that teaches budding guitar players how to pick like him—his favorite ever performance (it’s a big one!), and why his career keeps him happy.
Kristen Fogle: Tell us about your PBS special.
Tommy Emanuel: The good folks at the PBS network wanted to do a special with me and friends, and they allowed me to choose my guests. Those were Pam Rose, Anthony Snape, Frank Vignola, and Vinny Raniolo. Between us, I think we put together a strong show with lots of good music and variety for people of all ages. We needed to record two nights, so we actually did two shows and recorded and filmed both. This gave us the opportunity to have alternative takes of different songs. Some of the more spontaneous ideas I came up with during the shows, which were actually just for the audience, ended up on the special anyway. For instance, the version that I played of “Guitar Boogie” was actually the encore on the first night. I didn’t think that we were recording or filming, but we were. It turned out to be pretty good performance, and everybody liked it, so we put it on the final. Just a little inside info there.
KF: I know you played Les Paul's birthday tribute, which must have been amazing, but can you share some other big events that you have played that mean a lot to you?
TE: Probably the biggest event of my life was the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. There were 200,000 people in the stadium and 2.75 billion people watching around the world. I’m so glad that I got to share that moment in history with my brother, Phil.
KF: Tell us about Tommy Emmanuel 3.0.
TE: Tommy Emmanuel 3.0 was created to introduce my video portal TommyEmmanuel.TV. When you go to that site and join, you can get instructional material and watch exclusive live concert footage and documentaries, as well as our video news blog, The Endless Road. Truefire Media created the site and have really great proprietary tools so that guitarists who would like to learn my pieces can see them played at all angles and can loop footage and download tablature. At the same time, we introduced a redesigned tommyemmanuel.com website and started selling the CD versions of guitar instruction that combine traditional tablature books and DVDs into one format that can be used on a computer.
KF: You are currently touring. Where are you looking forward to playing?
TE: California has always been good for me, and I’m grateful for the following that has been building over the years. You can’t beat California in winter.
KF: San Diego, in particular, is gearing up for you, for your concert on Valentines Day. Is that a special day for you?
TE: Yes, because I have a special Valentine!
KF: It's almost exactly a year since you released "Little by Little." has your relationship with the compilation changed over the past year? Do you like playing certain songs more/less?
TE: I like the way that some of the songs since recording them have actually evolved and changed from live performance. For instance, the native American song “The Trails” has grown and changed a lot, and I think that I’m telling the story better now.
KF: How is this record different from any other?
TE: It’s a double album for a start, and it’s a mixture of original songs and well-known songs played solo and in duet. I have several guests on this album.
KF: After so many years in such a great career, do you ever want to something else? How do you stay motivated?
TE: I am always trying to get better at what I’m doing and because I travel and meet people every day of my life, I think I’m in a constant state of being inspired.
For more information on Tommy Emanuel, please visit: www.tommyemmanuel.com
Tommy Emmanuel
2/14/12, 7:30 p.m.
Balboa Theatre
868 Fourth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
www.sdbalboa.org
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