Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel was born in Australia on May 31, 1955. He is frequently cited as one of the finest acoustic guitarists of all time and is renowned for his intricate fingerstyle playing, upbeat concerts, and usage of percussion effects. After starting out as a session musician for several bands, Emmanuel developed his own sound and released a number of albums and singles that won awards. Emmanuel was made an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in June 2010 and was added to the Australian Roll of Renown in 2011.

Emmanuel had remarked that Chet Atkins's use of the thumb and fingers of the right hand to concurrently play bass lines, chords, melodies, and harmonies while producing a dynamic variety of sounds from the instrument had intrigued him even as a young child. Emmanuel's playing draws from a wide range of musical genres, including jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, and rock, but at the basis of his sound is this kind of country fingerstyle playing. Emmanuel's natural musical talent, innate sense of rhythm, and charm won him fans from all over the world despite the fact that he has never received formal music training and cannot read or write music. He never follows a setlist when performing solo and uses the least amount of stage effects possible.