Any list of the greatest acoustic guitarists is incomplete without mention of Australian Tommy Emmanuel. On Monday night, he demonstrated why he has earned acclaim from his peers and from fans. In a performance at the Hutton Hotel’s Analog filmed for Nashville Public Television, Emmanuel performed solo as well as with some special guests.
Aware of the taping, Emmanuel and his guests kept the bar high. As he tuned, he kept up his patter with the audience, noting “When I’m playing my normal events, I plow on through.” When he lost his pick while playing with mandolinist Sierra Hull, he never missed a beat—but replayed the song to get it right.
Emmanuel opened solo with song ranging from “Waltzing Matilda” to one of his newer originals “Fuel.” Asking if there were any Doc Watson fans, rousing a cheer, he performed “Deep River Blues,” which he recorded with Jason Isbell on his 2018 Accomplice One album. During the song, he took off the capo and threw it behind him, then afterwards telling the crowd, “I also have a song where I put the capo on in the middle of it.”
After a few songs played at lightning speed, he said he was going to slow down a bit “so I don’t get a hernia.” He played “Song for a Rainy Morning,” a tender melody that came to him after dreaming of the brother and sister he lost just a week apart.
Reminding the audience that before oil, gas, or gold, the currency was timber, he played a song commissioned for a film about the timber industry. When was told the song “Timberland” had to be a little sinister, he asked if he could have a little hope.
His first guest Yasmin Williams joined him, playing guitar in her lap-tapping style. Emmanuel said he first discovered the northern Virginian guitarist in Guitar magazine. During the performance, he sometimes shifted to playing percussion on his guitar.
During the transition between guest performers, as sound men were setting, Emmanuel talked about the difference between practice and performance, noting that everything changes “the moment you walk on stage.” He added, “That’s why I tour so much—‘cause I’m trying to get good.”
Another original he performed, “Halfway Home” was written, he said, sitting on a beach in the south of Thailand, when he realized he could head any direction and end up in one of the places he considers home—his native Australia; England, where his daughters and granddaughters live; or America, where he now lives.
As Emmanuel introduced Sierra Hull, he said they had met when playing together as part of the Transatlantic Sessions. The pair played “Best Buy,” a song Hull said she wrote sitting in the retailer’s parking lot. When he admitted he had messed up on the intro, she told the audience, “Even Tommy’s mistakes sound good.”
In the set with Rodney Crowell, the two swapped jibes about forgetting their own lyrics. When Emmanuel said, “He’s not used to doing shows,” Crowell replied, “You didn’t tell me there’d be people here.” They played Crowell’s “I’m Looking Forward to the Past” followed by the Hank Williams classic with Eamon McLoughlin. Afterwards, as McLoughlin left the stage, Emmanuel said, “He came on, played perfect, and went off. He’s British.”
Emmanuel took a seat to play “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” taking the classic to a new dimension, before bringing on Emmylou Harris. He noted that he had bought her Elite Hotel album when it was first released, not realizing “Here, There, and Everywhere” was a Lennon-McCartney song. For the evening performance, McLoughlin returned and guitarist Pat Ferguson joined them on another Beatles’ song Harris made her own, “For No One.” Riffing on his earlier comment, she apologized to the audience that the song didn’t have any hope.
For their second song, Harris said, “Now I get to be a chanteuse.” They played the old standard “How High the Moon.”
Before Ferguson left the stage, Emmanuel invited him to play a “quick guitar boogie.” If the song was actually unrehearsed, as he suggested, it was a testament to the skills of both musicians. Perhaps the mark of Emmanuel’s talent is his ability not only to amaze audiences with his solo skills but to jam with other great talents, taking a backseat or swapping out leads.
Before his finale, Emmanuel joked, “I’d like to play a medley of my hit.” Then he launched into a medley of Beatles songs–“Please Please Me,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Daytripper,” and “Lady Madonna,” then ending with “Classical Gas.”
For an encore, Emmanuel closed with “Old Photographs,” inspired by Spielberg’s movie Lincoln. He said as he left the theater, he felt like a five-year-old, remembering looking through his grandmother’s cookie tin filled with old family photographs. He asked the audience to think back to their own old pictures and keepsakes. It’s safe to say that the evening’s performance will become one of those treasured memories for anyone fortunate enough to be present.
