IT’S HARDLY A novel statement — or, for that matter, one that’s much open to debate — to say that Tommy Emmanuel, Certified Guitar Player (according to Chet Atkins, at least), is one of music’s greatest acoustic fingerstylists. But when it came to his latest album, The Best of Tommysongs, the 64-year-old Australian artist was less concerned with technique and more preoccupied with tunes.
"I can actually pinpoint it," Tommy Emmanuel says. "It was sometime around when I was in my early thirties. I discovered that I had a sound and a voice that wasn’t like other people’s"
ALYSSE GAFKJEN
“Rather than trying to focus the world on my abilities, I felt I’d rather have people pay attention to the importance of melody and groove and telling a story,” Emmanuel explains. “So I think the focus of this album is on my songwriting.”