Tommy Emmanuel
Originally a session player in many bands, Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist. He has released many award-winning recordings as a solo artist. More than sixty years into his storied career as one of the modern era’s most accomplished and versatile guitarists, Tommy Emmanuel is still hungry for adventure.
Along with his brother Phil, Emmanuel performed live at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The event was televised to over 2 billion viewers worldwide.
It should come as little surprise that Emmanuel’s extraordinary new album, Living in the Light, is easily the most daring—and most rewarding—collection in the Grammy-winner’s remarkable catalog. Recorded and mixed in just four days with producer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Phish), the album radiates the kind of raw, electrifying energy that can only come from an artist operating in complete and total surrender to the moment. Emmanuel captured most of the performances here in one or two takes, and the sense of joy and wonder in these sonic explorations is more than just palpable; it’s intoxicating. While many of the recordings are solo instrumentals, Emmanuel lends his voice to several of the album’s tracks, as well, grounding his dazzling, percussive fretwork with a poignant dose of warmth and vulnerability. The result is a record as exhilarating as it is intimate, a virtuosic blend of acoustic pop, jazz, classical, and roots music delivered by a master craftsman with a penchant for living on the edge.
