Tommy E has really got some moves on him!

lowrider · #1 08-26-2021, 12:53 PM

If you think of Tommy Emmanuel as a kind of conservative guy who does virtuoso acoustic fingerpicking versions of middle-of-the-road songs. Well, I guess you were wrong. Check out the moves on the guy;

And he's really wailing on that Tele!

rmp · #2 08-26-2021, 12:59 PM

naw, I knew very well that tommy e. is an all around, equal opportunity monster

J Patrick · #3 08-26-2021, 03:19 PM

……say now that vids a hoot eh?…there’s a lot of video with TE and other players….lots of different styles….the man just knows what to play…..he’s like Bela Fleck on Banjo or Sam Bush on Mandolin…or Mark O’Connor on anything he cares to pick up….a true cross genre virtuoso….

…here he is rippin it up with some chicken pickers…

Glennwillow · #4 08-26-2021, 10:43 PM

Tommy Emmanuel has lived and breathed guitar for so much of his life that he just seems to know what to do. I have heard him doing off-the-cuff rockabilly stuff on acoustic with other acoustic players after a workshop at Skaneateles, NY back in 2007 and it was complete magic. Everybody in the lounge was stunned by what he was doing, including my wife and I.

I am used to the idea that a player can be well rehearsed and put on a good show of stuff he/she has practiced and prepared for. But being able to go up in front of people and tastefully jam with others on stuff that is completely unrehearsed, that to me is from another world. He knows the guitar like a fluent language; he just thinks it and the stuff comes out right.

It was fun to watch those videos and be reminded!

- Glenn

Paleolith54 · #5 08-27-2021, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Tommy Emmanuel has lived and breathed guitar for so much of his life that he just seems to know what to do. I have heard him doing off-the-cuff rockabilly stuff on acoustic with other acoustic players after a workshop at Skaneateles, NY back in 2007 and it was complete magic. Everybody in the lounge was stunned by what he was doing, including my wife and I.

I am used to the idea that a player can be well rehearsed and put on a good show of stuff he/she has practiced and prepared for. But being able to go up in front of people and tastefully jam with others on stuff that is completely unrehearsed, that to me is from another world. He knows the guitar like a fluent language; he just thinks it and the stuff comes out right.

It was fun to watch those videos and be reminded!

- Glenn

He's the source of one of the best quotes I've seen. Someone was gushing about his playing and asked him how he did it. He said "It's called practice."

Dru Edwards · #6 08-27-2021, 01:10 PM

I've never heard of Josh Smith before but he can rock! I'm a fan. Of course Joe B is one of the best out there.

Tommy's got the moves too.

stevecuss · #7 08-28-2021, 07:45 AM

In the late 80s/early 90s when Tommy was purely a local hero, rather than a national treasure, he was known equally for his tele and acoustic pyrotechnics.

He played electric for an Aussie band called 'Dragon' for a short spell and then came to more national exposure when he opened for John Denver's Aussie tour. But his concerts, which always featured some of Australia's finest musicians (Virgil Donati on drums, for example), Tommy would mostly play a tele in a band, and then do a solo acoustic set. He'd also often just trade instruments with the band, with each band member playing each instrument. They'd simply all move one instrument to the left and keep playing. It was pretty mind-blowing to watch him on drums. He also did a pretty amazing duet with the bass player - both guys playing one bass.

Anyway, obviously he has been a first class performer forever, but yeah, his early stuff had a LOT of electric in it.

Here is an earlier gig with Tommy's tribute song to Stevie Ray Vaughn. The other guitarist is Jack Jones from an Aussie pop band called 'Southern Sons.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTOVaXHX-8

Dru Edwards · #8 08-28-2021, 11:23 AM

What a great video. This is the first time I've heard of Jack Johnson and his style reminds me of Colin James. Great tone. I didn't recognize Tommy E but he sounded like SRV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevecuss

In the late 80s/early 90s when Tommy was purely a local hero, rather than a national treasure, he was known equally for his tele and acoustic pyrotechnics.

He played electric for an Aussie band called 'Dragon' for a short spell and then came to more national exposure when he opened for John Denver's Aussie tour. But his concerts, which always featured some of Australia's finest musicians (Virgil Donati on drums, for example), Tommy would mostly play a tele in a band, and then do a solo acoustic set. He'd also often just trade instruments with the band, with each band member playing each instrument. They'd simply all move one instrument to the left and keep playing. It was pretty mind-blowing to watch him on drums. He also did a pretty amazing duet with the bass player - both guys playing one bass.

Anyway, obviously he has been a first class performer forever, but yeah, his early stuff had a LOT of electric in it.

Here is an earlier gig with Tommy's tribute song to Stevie Ray Vaughn. The other guitarist is Jack Johnson from an Aussie pop band called 'Southern Sons.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTOVaXHX-8

stevecuss · #9 08-28-2021, 12:40 PM

Yeah, and Jack is a heck of a singer too. A rising star in the late 80s and he went underground and, I think, came out later with a new name and vibe.

But here he is in full pop glory. You might know the Aussie singer John Farnham, considered by many to the finest pop vocalist of all time. JJ very much modeled his vocal style after his hero Farnham:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy2gGNS6o78

He's a brilliant player, the band was stacked with top Aussie studio musicians and writers and they launched right at the end of the long hair pretty face pop era.