Tommy Emmanuel, Australia’s legendary guitarist, has a professional career that spans almost five decades. His virtuoso playing has earned him two Grammy award nominations. Tommy plays more than 300 concerts a year, gathering hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide, bringing him from international jazz festivals to shows with the Sydney Philharmonic, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry to performances for the Masai people in remote areas of Kenya.
Emmanuel has been voted Favorite Acoustic Guitarist in both Guitar Player Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s reader polls.
The YouTube sensation has more than 30,000,000 views and you can witness the master in person in full flight at the Lime Tree Theatre this Sunday July 24.
Tommy answered Limerick Post’s questions this week.
After 30 million views … Has YouTube and your videos had a positive impact and revolutionised the amount of fans worldwide that are now aware of your music?
Youtube and the Internet have had an amazing effect on many artists’ careers. Personally, I have been amazed by the coverage that I get from social media. My career in Europe really took off because of Youtube and then China, Russia and other Asian countries followed.
I’ve enjoyed working with creative people making videos and capturing live performances in the hope of reaching into people’s lives and surprising them.
Since the ’50s the guitar has been at the forefront of mainstream music evolution. A look at the singles charts today revealed no guitar sounds in the top 10. Will the guitar sound lead the way again in mainstream popular music culture?
I think the guitar is still the coolest instrument on the planet. I also think there are more players than ever out there. Perhaps pop music is not as riff-driven as it used to be but there is still a lot of great players taking their music all over the world. We are all thankful that people still love to come and see live music being performed by passionate artists.
Lookin’ forward to at the Lime Tree Theatre this Sunday July 24?
I haven’t played in Limerick for quite a few years and I’m looking forward to the concert on Sunday. I have a lot of fond memories of playing my first shows in Ireland to really enthusiastic music lovers. Ireland is one of the birth-places of great music.
Tommy Emmanuel performs at Lime Tree Theatre this Sunday July 24.
