© 2024 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Kaua‘i Listeners: A power outage has taken HPR-1 (KIPL) off the air. Mahalo for your patience as work is being done to restore power.

Tommy Emmanuel, Finger-Picking Good

Tommy Emmanuel has become famous for his finger-picking approach to playing the guitar.
/
Tommy Emmanuel has become famous for his finger-picking approach to playing the guitar.

Friend and mentor Chet Atkins once called Australian-born Tommy Emmanuel "One of the greatest players on the planet."

Famous for their finger-picking style, Atkins and Emmanuel were nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

The song "Smokey Mountain Lullaby" was from their duet album, The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World.

Emmanuel has spent the past 45 years fine-tuning his techinique. Such dedication, along with inspiration from Atkins, has enabled him to branch out into a wide variety of musical styles.

His latest album, The Mystery, has him on tour throughout the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Related Stories