Interview: Tommy Emmanuel

Interview: Tommy Emmanuel

By Martine Ehrenclou

Tommy Emmanuel. Just his name brings to mind extraordinary guitar playing. But it also brings something else—joy. To separate his talent from his enthusiasm when performing live or in the studio, is nearly impossible. Sure, you’re amazed by his ability to play three parts simultaneously on guitar. It would take three musicians to do what Tommy does solo. But there’s much more to Tommy Emmanuel than multi-dimensional arrangements on guitar. It is his authentic joy when playing, performing, collaborating, writing, arranging and producing. To see him live is to witness not just a virtuoso guitar player but a genuine storyteller with innate instincts, timing and humor.

As one of the greatest guitarists in the world, the Australian-born Tommy Emmanuel makes his guitar sing much like a vocalist—with true heart and soul. From multiple Grammy nominations to ARIA Awards, IBMA Awards and countless “Best Acoustic Guitarist” wins, Emmanuel was awarded the honor of Certified Guitar Player (CGP) by none other than his guitar hero Chet Atkins.

A follow up to his album Accomplice One, his new album Accomplice Two boasts an impressive list of guest artists for 16 tracks of bluegrass, country, blues, and more. A lively mix of new takes on enduring classics and new originals, Emmanuel enlisted Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Jamey Johnson, Jorma Kaukonen, Michael McDonald, Jerry Douglas, the Nitty Gritty Dirty Band, David Grisman, Raul Malo and more to collaborate with him.

Tommy Emmanuel joined me on Zoom from his home in Australia.

Rock & Blues Muse
Congratulations on your new album Accomplice Two. Tell me a bit about it and the guest musicians who collaborated with you.

Tommy Emmanuel
I like to record as if it’s live. Every single person on this record is that good. Because I’m the producer, I needed to make sure that whatever artist I brought in, that everything was how they like it and that they could give their best. When Little Feet came in, the crew came ahead, set up, we got all the sounds, the bus pulled up, the guys got off, came in, put their headphones on, had a listen. Okay. We ran the track down and we got it first take.
And then with Billy (Payne) playing piano, he sang a guide vocal and then sang his vocal as if he was on stage, and we as a band, with Sam Bush as well. We all put on what we call ‘party vocals,’ backing vocals. We all sang, “You ain’t seen nothing, ” and we all sang like a bunch of drunks at a party. And that’s how it got that kind of real togetherness on the track. It was a lot of fun.
The track with Jorma, “Another Man Done a Full Go Around,” that was just Jorma and I on guitar and singing. I decided to put drums and bass on it later. It was supposed to be just the two of us, and I thought ‘this needs some kind of real trashy sounding drums.’ So I put some drums on it later. I do stuff like that all the time. (laughs)

Rock & Blues Muse
I wondered if you were also a drummer because you have such insane rhythm.

Tommy
Well, it’s all about that. It’s all about getting in the groove. That’s what makes people want to hear you play, as if what you do has its own way of being infectious.

Rock & Blues Muse
You use all sorts of percussive techniques that add to the fun of your live shows. Drum brush on your guitar and the mic, for example. How did you start doing that?

Tommy
Well, I’ve always been a drummer. I’m a drummer and a bass player who plays the guitar. But I wanted to do something different. This is back in the late seventies when we first had electronics inside the guitar. I remember my brother and I were doing a show. My brother was a guitar player as well. He was the lead player, I was the rhythm guy. I remember he broke a string and he just looked at me, he said, “Take it.” And this is in the middle of us building this show to a crescendo, and then to be told, “Take it,” I’m like, take what? (Laughs) So I just start banging on the guitar and I realized how good it sounded. I made it into musical sense, and that’s when I got the idea. I thought, wow, the way these electronics work in the guitar, the microphone and a pickup, this thing actually sounds like a drum.

I started using all my drummer’s ideas, and then I thought, well, maybe I could try a brush. So I tried that and that all worked, and then I banged the mic with it. Because you never see people do that. Ever. I’m the only one I know who does that stuff.

Because the world is so full of great musicians, if you can find some way of standing out apart from your compositions and the way you play, there has to be a way of you doing something unique. I started to look for sounds on the instrument– put guitar playing aside and be a listener and a producer and try to find something that’s going to capture people’s imagination.

Rock & Blues Muse
Audiences really respond when you do that when you perform live.

Tommy
Oh, absolutely. It’s like when I’m playing a song and I’ve got the capo on, and in the middle of the song I flip the capo up in the air and change keys. Because you never see people do that. They always put the capo on and play the song. I’m playing a tune and I throw it off and do a key change. That’s a lot of fun, and if you can pull it off, great. I do all these things in the name of entertainment. I’m trying to entertain you and surprise you because I want things to be different from what you expect.

Rock & Blues Muse
Every show of yours that I’ve seen has been different, completely different. Your version of “Mombasa” has been different every time, and it’s different on Accomplice Two also.

Tommy
That’s right. That was because Yasmin came to me and said, “Oh, I love Mombasa, why don’t we do that?” We ran it down and she played it beautifully and added things to it that maybe no one else would’ve. She’s so unique. And how does this girl from Washington DC sound like she’s right out of Kenya? I don’t know how she does that, but she does.

“Mombasa”

 
Rock & Blues Muse
How did you go about picking all of your collaborators for Accomplice Two?

Tommy
Well, it was the people that I like, the people I know that if I had 10 minutes to record something, that we could get something. That’s how good they are. With the help of my wonderful management, we had to find who was available, when they were in Nashville, when the studio’s available, all that. It was like trying to drag the Queen Mary up a river of Mars bars. (laughs)

But we got there, we got there. And people like Molly made herself available. She’s touring and was able to come in. We cut that track so quickly. I think we did two passes. She was already playing great, singing great by 10:00 AM. She was already in the zone. And the same for Billy Strings. And Billy and I played together a lot at MerleFest and Grey Fox and a lot of those kind of festivals. So when I said, “Let’s do Doc’s Guitar and Black Mountain Rag’, I’ll play this part, you take the bridge, I’ll play this part, you take the bridge,” we just worked it out like that. And then we played it down and fine-tuned it. And I said, “Okay, let’s go.” We did one pass at it and had it. That’s what you do when you work with real musicians, they can do it now.

Rock & Blues Muse
I wondered how much input you offered to get what you wanted out of each song.

Tommy
I’m directing. I’m the producer, this is my idea. But I want people to enjoy the whole process and make it as painless as possible so they can really jump on it. Once we played the thing together, that’s all we needed. I guess they felt that I was the right kind of support. If you book me to come and play on something, my attitude immediately is, what can I do for you? What can I bring to the music? If you booked me to come and play on your record, I want to serve the music as best I can.
Raul Malo sent me a list of songs that he liked, and most of them were Sam Cooke songs, which I love too. And I chose ‘Far Away Places.’ It’s not an easy song to sing. You got to be a singer as good as him to make that work. Ss soon as I said, ‘Far Away Places,’ he said, “Yes!, okay, good.” Which means, he’s now in the challenge seat, he’s going to really go for it. And so he did. He did no fix-ups, no fixing of the voice, no auto-tune BS, none of that. This is a real singer who gets it right. Yeah.

Rock & Blues Muse
I love your original songs also. You have an incredible way with melody. For example on Accomplice Two “Mama Knows”, “Mombasa”, and from past albums “Angelina” and “Papa George”. How do did you learn how to craft beautiful melodies?

Tommy
Thank you. I think that goes back a long way. I think it goes back to the beginning. Because when I was a baby. My mother said whenever she put on Jim Reeves or someone like that, that I would immediately go to sleep. Everything was right with that music. It soothed me. And then there was a band called The Shadows, whose music was so popular in the early sixties. My brother and I learned all their songs. When I heard other music that I didn’t feel as melodic or interesting, melody against chords, it kind of set a standard for me. And then I heard Chet Atkins. His choice of songs was a great lesson to me too. It’s my instincts that have built inside me from when I was a kid, and there has to be a melody and a chord. It has to tell me something. So, with “Mama Knows,” I purposely tried to write as if I was Billy Joel writing an instrumental, not putting words to it and thinking like a piano. That’s Billy’s influence on me right there.
And then the verse, it can be James Taylor. Because I live in here, (pointing to chest) I can tell you what’s in there. I can tell you that if I listen to something, I can say I couldn’t have written that bridge if I hadn’t grown up listening to Stevie Wonder and Carole King and people like that, because they sure knew how to write a bridge.
It’s a lot deeper than people think. It’s not just, ‘Oh, I’ve got some idea and I’ll just use all my skills to write it.’ It’s not about that. It’s digging much deeper.

Rock & Blues Muse
When I’ve seen you live, correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that a lot of this is improvisation.

Tommy
It is, absolutely. Yeah. Because I’m always pushing myself to see where I can go with it. Because I believe if I start playing it safe, people are going to know, they’re going to be onto me. They’re going to say, “You played well, but I saw you coasting.’ I could never do that, ever. I could never do stuff like that because it’s too important to me to be as honest in my music as I try to be in my daily life. And it’s not easy to live rigorously honest. It’s hard in a world full of bullshit.

I definitely try to do that with all my heart, and that’s what gives me the peace that I live with. Like last night, I played this two hour show here and I was really tired and I was trying not to let that get to me. I just honestly did my best. And I know I could do better if I had more rest, but I did my best and that was it. I have to leave it. I can’t be my judge and jury this morning and feel bad about the fact that I could have played a better show for that audience last night. That’s only in my head.

Rock & Blues Muse
You said last night you did your best, but you didn’t say it was an off night. Have you ever had an off night?

Tommy
Yeah. Usually it’s to do with the shitty committee.

Rock & Blues Muse
(Laughs) You mean the editors in our heads?

Tommy
Yeah. Sometimes if that committee starts up, you want to get rid of it as soon as you can.

Rock & Blues Muse
Like in the middle of your show?

Tommy
Oh absolutely. Or in the middle of a song. “You’re not quite in tune” or “did you play the first bridge or is this the second bridge?” All of a sudden that might happen. But here’s the thing, if you’re having a bad night and the magic isn’t there, which is quite possible because we’re just human beings, if that happens, then you better have some good songs to stand on, and play those songs with the best ability you can. Because if the magic isn’t there and it’s really getting to you, you need to diffuse that and not let it run the show.

When people say, “What should my son do to be doing what you are doing?” And I say, “He’s got to learn some good songs.” You better have some good songs and some good arrangements, that even on your worst night are still going to kill people. They’re still going to be great. That’s what you got to get together. So, if you’re having a bad night, know that the work you put into your arrangements and your choice of songs will stand up.

Rock & Blues Muse
I read that you don’t use set lists, is that true?

Tommy
That’s true, I never use a set list, unless I’m playing with an orchestra or a band. When I play on my own, my biggest decision is what do I start with? And then it kind of weaves its way into what it becomes. It really depends on the energy in the room and the crowd, and my energy too. If I’m already feeling full of energy and I want to just blaze away for a while, I may do three songs in a row, which come at you like a Mack Truck, and then I might back off a little. And that shakes people, they’re surprised by what you’re playing, and then it’s like bang, bang, bang. They haven’t had time to think about their problems, and then all of a sudden they’re in another zone. Holy smoke, this is better than drugs, man. (Laughs)

Rock & Blues Muse
(Laughs) How does the audience, their interaction with you, affect you on stage?

Tommy
If the audience are really into it right from the get go, you come out on stage and they’re really giving it, you are just going to go from one to 100 like that, and off you go. It only takes a second. If I get out there and it’s like, wow, what a response, then I’m going to give you flesh and blood. I’m going to go all out right from the start.

Rock & Blues Muse
You did exactly that when you performed with Mike Dawes in Malibu. The audience went absolutely nuts.

Tommy
Yeah. Well, what’s the point in coming out there and saying, “I’m a very serious guitar player?” I see people do that, and I have to laugh because it’s like, we don’t care. Give us something. The bottom line is I want to have fun, and I figure that if I’m having fun, you are too.

Rock & Blues Muse
Do you always have fun?

Tommy
Definitely. I try. If I’m struggling, I’ll find a way of un-struggling. I’ll talk about something or I’ll go off in a joke mode. It’s pretty rare that I can’t walk out and just launch into it. If the sound is good and I’m playing well, then I’m off. I’m off like a rocket. If I’m struggling, then I do my best to hunker down and get my stuff together.

Rock & Blues Muse
Tell me about how you developed your guitar technique. Playing the three parts at the same time.

Tommy
Well, it’s the songs I play that force me to figure out how I could do that. No one showed me that stuff. I worked out how to do it because they’re the songs I wanted to play, and I had to figure a way of doing that. When I came up with the arrangement of “Blue Moon,” where the bass moves this way and the chords are doing this, and then the melody’s sitting on top, that was me trying to do something clever when I was a young fella. It was back in the late seventies. And lucky for me, I was living in a house with a piano player and a saxophone player. They were jazz guys, and I’m a country rock boy. So I’m sitting there trying to work this thing out, and the saxophone player guy pokes his head around the corner and says, “Why don’t you make the bass go through the changes?”

I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Move the bass through the chord changes and keep the melody going.” So I worked out how to do that, and it was like a revelation. All of a sudden my little pea brain idea went like this, and I realized, “Oh my God, it’s endless possibilities here. And that’s what started me. And then when I came up with the “Lady Madonna” and “Day Tripper,” where I played both parts. I knew what I wanted to do– I just had to physically work out how to do it and then practice it until I stopped thinking about the technique of doing it and the music appeared.

What people aren’t told by teachers–this is the truth. When you are learning something new, it’s new skills, and you’ve got to practice those skills until they’re not skills anymore, the music appears. But until then, while you are still struggling with it, it’s still a skill. And then when you’re not struggling with it and your mind can go to the music, that’s when the music appears.

All that stuff is right in front of you, you just can’t see it because you’re busy trying to do all this other stuff. And trying to find the magic. And how does he do that? And it’s right in front of you.

For more information on Tommy Emmanuel see his website HERE

Tommy Emmanuel with Molly Tuttle “White Freight Liner Blues”