Tommy Emmanuel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tommy Emmanuel
Emmanuel in Berlin, September 2024
Background information
Birth name	William Thomas Emmanuel
Born	(1955-05-31) 31 May 1955 (age 70) Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Jazz, pop, rock, country
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Sony, Columbia, Favored Nations
Associated acts	Southern Star Band, John Farnham, Dragon, Jerry Reed, Chet Atkins, Martin Taylor, Hank Marvin, Gabriella Quevedo

William Thomas Emmanuel (born May 31, 1955) is an amazing Australian guitarist. He started out playing with many different bands. Later, he became a solo artist and released many recordings that won awards.

In June 2010, Tommy Emmanuel was given a special honor called the Member of the Order of Australia. In 2011, he was added to the Australian Roll of Renown, which celebrates important people in Australian music. MusicRadar, a popular music website, named him the best acoustic guitarist in the world in 2019.

Tommy Emmanuel's Early Life and Music Journey

Tommy Emmanuel was born in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia, in 1955. He was one of six children. He got his first guitar when he was just four years old in 1959. His mother taught him how to play so he could join her when she played the lap steel guitar.

When he was six, in 1961, he heard the famous guitarist Chet Atkins on the radio. Tommy remembers this moment clearly. He said it really inspired him to become a musician.

Becoming a Professional Musician

By the time he was six, Tommy was already a professional musician. His father saw that Tommy and his older brother, Phil Emmanuel, were very talented. So, he started a family band. They sold their home and traveled all over Australia in two station wagons. Tommy spent most of his childhood touring, playing rhythm guitar, and rarely going to school.

After his father passed away in 1966, a country music star named Buddy Williams asked if the Emmanuel brothers could join his touring show. Tommy Emmanuel later recorded several albums with Buddy Williams in the early 1970s. The family eventually settled in Parkes, New South Wales. This happened because the New South Wales Department of Education said the children needed to go to school regularly.

Rising to Fame

As a teenager, Tommy Emmanuel moved to Sydney. He became well-known across Australia after winning many talent contests. In the late 1970s, he played drums with his brother Phil in a group called Goldrush. He also worked on many albums and jingles.

He became even more famous as the lead guitarist for the Southern Star Band. This band played for the singer Doug Parkinson. From 1986 to 1988, and again in 1995, Tommy joined the rock group Dragon. He toured a lot with them, even with Tina Turner in 1987. He left Dragon to start his own solo music career.

Special Performances and Honors

In 1994, the famous Australian musician John Farnham asked Tommy to play guitar for the Concert for Rwanda. Tommy had played in Farnham's band before in the early 1980s. He rejoined the band after the 1994 concert.

In July 1999, Chet Atkins called Tommy Emmanuel a "fearless" fingerpicking guitar player. Chet Atkins gave Tommy and three other guitarists a special "Certified Guitar Player" title.

Tommy and his brother Phil performed live at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000. About 2.85 billion people around the world watched this event on TV.

In June 2010, Tommy Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). In 2012, the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, gave him the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel.

In July 2019, Tommy mentioned during a concert that he had recently become an American citizen. In 2025, the University of Newcastle gave Tommy an honorary doctorate. This was to recognize his amazing contributions to music around the world.

Tommy Emmanuel's Guitar Style

Emmanuel's fingerstyle technique was featured at a June 2006 performance at City Stages in Birmingham, Alabama

Tommy Emmanuel has said that even when he was young, he loved Chet Atkins's way of playing guitar. This style, sometimes called Travis picking, involves playing bass lines, chords, melodies, and harmonies all at the same time. He uses his thumb and fingers on his right hand to create a wide range of sounds from the guitar.

Tommy's playing includes many different music styles, like jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, and rock. But his main technique comes from this country finger-style playing. Tommy never had formal music lessons and cannot read music. However, his natural talent, strong sense of rhythm, and friendly personality have won him fans everywhere.

When he performs alone, he doesn't use a set list of songs. He also uses very few special effects on stage. He often records his studio songs in just one take.

His Guitars and Techniques

Emmanuel uses a snare-drum brush to emulate the sound of a percussion kit

In his solo shows, Tommy mainly plays guitars made by Maton. This is an Australian guitar company. He usually travels with two custom Maton EBG808 TE models and one TE1 model. These are special guitars named after him. He has played Maton guitars for most of his career and is like a spokesperson for the company.

Tommy's guitars often look worn out. This is because he plays with so much energy and uses percussive techniques. For example, in one of his famous performances, he hits the guitar body in different places with his hands or a drummer's snare-drum brush. This makes the guitar sound like a drum set.

Tommy usually keeps one Maton EBG808 tuned to standard guitar tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E). He tunes his second Maton EBG808 to D-G-D-G-B-E (G6 tuning). His TE1 is tuned to C♯-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯. This way, he can quickly switch guitars during a show instead of spending time retuning one.

Tommy often curls his left thumb around the guitar neck to play some notes. This is different from how classical guitarists play, but it's common for jazz and country guitarists. He often plays common three-finger chords with only two fingers. He uses a thumbpick, a flat pick (plectrum), his fingers, or a mix of these. This style is called hybrid picking.

He also has a special technique that makes an acoustic guitar sound like an electric guitar's tremolo system. He presses the palm of his right hand against the sound board near the neck. At the same time, he pushes forward with his left hand on the top of the headstock. This slightly bends the guitar neck, changing the pitch of the strings to create the sound he wants.

Influences on Tommy Emmanuel

When Tommy was young in Australia, he wrote to his hero Chet Atkins in Nashville, Tennessee. Chet Atkins eventually wrote back with encouraging words. He also invited Tommy to visit him anytime.

In 1997, Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins recorded an album together called The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World. This was Chet Atkins's last album. Tommy and Chet appeared together on 'Country Christmas' on The Nashville Network in late 1997. On that show, Chet Atkins said about Tommy: "He is one of the greatest guitar players I've ever seen." Chet Atkins even gave Tommy the guitar that Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith used to record "Guitar Boogie." This song is a very important part of blues guitar history and Tommy often plays it in his shows.

In July 1999, at the 15th Annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention, Chet Atkins gave Tommy Emmanuel a "Certified Guitar Player" award. Chet personally gave this honor to only four guitarists. This award is famous because Chet Atkins himself, a widely recognized guitar master, gave it out. The award says: "In Recognition of His Contributions to the Art of Fingerpicking." Tommy performs at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) every July in Nashville.

Besides Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel has said that he and his brother Phil Emmanuel were inspired by Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch from the band the Shadows.

Tommy Emmanuel's Music Albums

Awards and Recognitions

Tommy Emmanuel has won many awards for his amazing guitar playing and music.

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards (Australia) celebrate great composing and songwriting in Australia.

ARIA Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are Australia's biggest music awards. They recognize the best in Australian music.

Australian Roll of Renown

The Australian Roll of Renown honors musicians from Australia and New Zealand who have made a big and lasting impact on Country Music.

Country Music Awards of Australia

The Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) are also known as the Golden Guitar Awards. They celebrate great country music in Australia.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are very famous awards that recognize achievements in the music industry, mostly in English-speaking countries.

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards recognized achievements in live entertainment in Australia. Tommy Emmanuel won two of these awards.

Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2023, the National Guitar Museum nominated Tommy Emmanuel for its annual “Lifetime Achievement” Award.

See also

In Spanish: Tommy Emmanuel para niños