Tommy Emmanuel in Durham

Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian acoustic guitarist, born in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, in 1955. He is known for fingerstyle playing that carries melody, bass and rhythm at once, heard on pieces such as “Angelina” and “Mombasa,” the album Endless Road and his arrangement of “Classical Gas.” Chet Atkins gave him the title Certified Guitar Player. In 2000, Tommy Emmanuel performed with his brother Phil at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. Later concert releases documented his solo touring work: Center Stage was recorded at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, while Live at the Ryman captured a theatre performance in Nashville. A Tommy Emmanuel concert is typically a solo acoustic set in which he plays melody, bass lines, chords and percussion on the same instrument. His long-standing stage instrument is an Australian-made Maton acoustic guitar.