the way any truly great artist uses his/her medium to express the divine.
Tommy Emmanuel is a spiritually driven man whose instrument happens to be the guitar. He is a modern day prophet who is uniquely doing his service to mankind. There is meaning in his notes.�
The year 2001 was one of tremendous growth, both in audience attendance and musical collaboration, all over the world. After Tommy�s appearance on the Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games, and his debut at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in late 2000, everyone wanted to know who this mysterious Australian guitar virtuoso was.
In January Tommy was invited to open for Italy�s most famous band, �Pooh� and spent the month performing to sold-out crowds all around the country. He then followed up with major solo appearances. In March and April he returned to New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong completing major TV appearances and a run of sold-out shows. Immediately following he was invited to open for Rolling Stones member Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings tour of the UK and also appeared on Wyman�s critically acclaimed albums. In May he appeared on Mountain Stage, a US National Public Radio nation-wide program. In July, his beloved friend Chet Atkins passed away and Tommy came to Nashville for the annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention shortly after Chet�s passing to celebrate his life with other great guitarists and friends.
The events of September 11th prevented Tommy�s return to the Walnut Valley Festival on September 12th. but he finally arrived on the first available flight to the United States to commence a large scale tour encompassing brand new territories including Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Northern California, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and New York State. His appearances included a performance at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. where he was introduced by the Australian Ambassador to members of the US government community and local Australians.
November marked the release of his album ONLY in England, distributed by Southbound Records, and he supported this release with a full tour of the country including ten days in Ireland. This tour recruited a large legion of new fans in the UK and Ireland, and generated tremendous media coverage.
Tommy Emmanuel is a household name in his native homeland of Australia. His music and his life have become part of Australian legend. Through hard work and endless tours, he has earned a success unequalled by any instrumental artist ever in Australia. With 4 platinum & 3 gold albums and many awards, he sets the standard for others to emulate. As a songwriter (co-writing with 1960s star Steve Kipner), his compositions have been recorded by Olivia Newton-John, Al Jarreau and Sheena Easton. His career has spanned 4 decades and continues to forge on into the 21st century with a new CD titled �ONLY� his first solo acoustic album, with a mission to expand his audience and take his music to the rest of the world.
�I�ve spent all my life from the age of 4 playing music and entertaining people, I never wanted to do anything else� he says � �Music brings people together.�
As a child prodigy during the 1960s, Tommy and his brother Phil formed their own bands like The Emmanuel Quartet, The Midget Safaries and The Trailblazers (completed by siblings Chris on drums and Virginia on slide guitar). Tommy commenced his session career during the 1970s; some of his most notable appearances were on the Air Supply hit singles `Lost in Love', `All Out of Love', `Every Woman in the World' and `Now and Forever'.
Tommy�s presence was felt in the USA when his album �Midnight Drive� was in the top 5 for 16 weeks, which made him the �most added artist� on the NAC radio charts in 1997.
In Nashville in 1999, Tommy was honoured by his mentor, Chet Atkins, receiving the Certified Guitar Player (CGP) award, for his contribution to finger style guitar. It was a crowning moment for the �Kid from Down Under.�
